GANGNAM’S MEDIA POLES: OBELISKS OF TECHNOLOGY
As a test-bed for companies like Samsung and LG, Gangnam is one of the best places to get a glimpse of things which haven’t made their way to the West. Combined with unparalleled network infrastructure and massive government investment, these 21 Media poles greatly exhibits how technology has advance at a rapid pace here at the Soul of Asia.
During your visit at Gangnam check out this interesting project entitled “U-Street”/ Ubiquitous Media Street of Gangnam consisting of 21 (12 meter-tall) “Media Poles” (미디어폴) with touch screens allowing people to search maps, read news, check transport information, take photos and play games These media facility was installed and opened for public last March 2009. These expensive media poles even provide services in English, Chinese and Japanese. People can also play games while waiting for their friends.They also act as free wi-fi hotspots.
The major functions of the Media Poles include:
Transportation maps (subway/bus)
Photomail (email postcard)
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.
During the night they resemble enormous monoliths with large LCD displays featuring various art works and advertisements on the upper sections. At the bottom is a single big touchscreen, like a huge iPhone (but without multi-touch), where you could freely walk up to and interact with.
Another project called “Seoul Digital Media City” (DMC) is also building something similar (but on a larger scale) called the “Digital Media Street” (DMS) which is set to include cutting edge technologies such as artificial intelligence-based street lamps (!) which respond to people moving through the space.
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