What are the big black boxes popping up in downtown Raleigh? Wander no more.
Eight-foot-tall interactive kiosks have arrived in downtown Raleigh, the first of their kind in North Carolina.
The big black boxes, called IKE or Interactive Kiosk Experience, are meant to help people find their way downtown, highlighting nearby businesses, upcoming events and transit options.
City officials held a ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday morning at the IKE kiosk at Fayetteville and Martin streets.
Fifteen are planned for downtown Raleigh.
“When visiting other cities, IKE proved invaluable in helping us identify restaurants, museums and fun places to visit — not to mention information on transit,” Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said in a news release..
“After my experience, I worked to bring them to Raleigh, and I’m excited they are finally here,” she said.
The Raleigh City Council voted in 2022 to pursue an agreement with IKE Smart City, which will cover the cost of installing and maintaining the kiosks.
IKE doesn’t require any city or Downtown Raleigh Alliance funding, instead getting its revenue from advertisements. The ads will not include alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, nudity, pornography, lewd or sexually explicit content, political content or advertisements “that are derogatory to any group,” according to a 2022 presentation to the City Council.
How do they work?
The IKE has two modes: passive and engaged.
When no one is actively using it, the kiosk is in passive mode and shows a loop of city and community messages, art and ads.
When a pedestrian touches the kiosk, it switches to engaged mode and shows applications for people to find nearby attractions, restaurants or shops. Other applications include a job board and where to find homeless shelters or city and state buildings.
The boxes are multilingual and comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“The IKE Kiosks will significantly improve wayfinding for our businesses and destinations in downtown Raleigh,” said Bill King, president and CEO of Downtown Raleigh Alliance, in the news release. “The capacity to update information digitally, in real time, provides much more functionality than static signs.
Where are the kiosks?
The digital signs are in 16 locations throughout the United States including Baltimore, Houston and Miami. The first five in Raleigh are at:
- 300 Glenwood Ave. (Glenwood Avenue and Lane Street)
- 428 W. Martin St. (South West and West Martin streets)
- 616 N. West St. (North West and West Peace streets)
- 502 Glenwood Avenue (Glenwood Avenue and Tucker Street)
- 301 S. Wilmington St. (South Wilmington and East Martin streets)
Seven other locations are under review:
- Fayetteville and Martin streets
- Fayetteville and Hargett streets
- Hargett and Blount streets
- Martin and Blount streets
- Morgan and West streets
- Salisbury and Lenoir streets
- Wilmington and Jones streets
Other downtown locations “are being explored,” to round out the 15 IKE spots.
This story was originally published October 9, 2023 at 3:06 PM.
