Gangnam Media Pole
2009/05/12 01:46Gangnam in southern Seoul is home to the newest installation of public media boards using touch flat screen displays with the Ubiquitous Media Street of Gangnam:
Following a media-based theme, the district set up special poles to create what officials call the "U-street," allowing "ubiquitous" access to media right on the street.
The 12 meter-tall poles allow people to search maps, read news and check transport information. These expensive media poles even provide services in English, Chinese and Japanese. People can also play games while waiting for their friends.
In operation since March, there are twenty-one poles along a major road near the busy Gangnam Station. The area around the Media Poles also serves as a WiFi Free Zone serving with free wireless Internet access.
The major functions of the Media Poles include:
News (full edition of Korean newspapers, similar to Chosun Ilbo’s T-Paper installation)
Transportation maps (subway/bus)
Photomail (email postcard)
Nurien 3D avatar game- there’s a post on the Nurien Blog with additional photos and video
Casual multiplayer games
Shopping/restaurant locator
Digital Kaleidoscope (Flickr photo gallery)
Yahoo Korea’s mapping service is integrated into some Media Pole applications along with the Flickr photo gallery application.
As well, the flat-panel displays aren't multi-touch and there’s quite a bit of reflection coming from the displays. When not being used, it would probably be more interesting to see some kind of advertising to invite people to use the display instead of just sitting at the main menu.
Another area of Seoul developing an u-Street is the Digital Media City with their Digital Media Street.
A Korean blogger posted a YouTube video along with several photos that gives a good walkthrough of the interface for the Media Pole:
To take a look at one of the Gangnam Media Poles, you can get off the subway at Gangnam Station on Line 2, exit 7.
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