Our Innovation Analysts recently looked into emerging technologies and up-and-coming startups working on solutions for Smart Cities. As there is a large number of startups working on a wide variety of solutions, we decided to share our insights with you. This time, we are taking a look at 5 promising Smart Public Furniture Solutions.
Heat Map: 5 Top Smart Public Furniture Solutions
For our 5 top picks, we used a data-driven startup scouting approach to identify the most relevant solutions globally. The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights 5 interesting examples out of 171 relevant solutions. Depending on your specific needs, your top picks might look entirely different.
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Strawberrye – Public Space Smart Benches
A lot of public spaces are not equipped with furniture that is capable to support digitally-driven lifestyles and social interactions. Solar-powered benches with environmental sensors are building a Smart City public space environment that everybody can engage with. Via phone application, Smart City residents can easily find the nearest bench to charge their phone or to find out about environmental quality in the area where the bench is located. Serbian startup Strawberrye builds a solar-powered bench called Smart Bench 2 that monitors environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, air pressure, ambient noise, and gas as well as particles. Another feature of the bench is that it also keeps count of the people using it. Through a mobile application, citizens have access to real-time environmental data and can suggest new locations for Smart Benches.
Green City Solutions – Public Space BioTech Air Filter
Rising pollution and lack of access to fresh air in public spaces have created an opportunity for technologies like BioTech-based air filtering to supply cleaner air. The core technology uses natural moss, which stores large quantities of moisture, and by increasing the surface area of the Bio-Filter creates an immense cooling effect in parks and city squares. Further, the air filters can be mounted on park benches. Germany-based Green City Solutions are rolling out their BioTech air filter called CleanAir+, which uses different types of moss to bind environmental toxins, such as particulate matter and nitrogen oxides while producing oxygen at the same time. Integrated Internet of Things (IoT) delivers comprehensive information on performance and status as well as environmental data on the CleanAir+ surroundings.
SolGreen – Urban Canopied Solar Table
Solar-powered outdoor furniture and infrastructure provide an opportunity for cities to generate, store and use energy from the sun for a multitude of reasons. People can use it for charging their devices or browsing the internet in public spaces by mounting the solar-powered devices on playgrounds, in city parks, and other resting areas. Emergency response systems can also be integrated. American startup SolGreen develops the Evodia Solar Table, which is a maintenance-free, solar-powered charging station, canopied seating table, and renewable power source equipped with energy storage. Some more features include GFE & USB device charging, LED lighting, Wi-Fi and emergency response systems.
IPToilet – Smart Public Toilets
Smart public toilets are designed as a clean and unattended public convenience facility. A control system installed inside the toilets transmits data on its usage and maintenance. Sensors send the data to a remote computer over the cloud. This data can be used by supervisors or municipal authorities to ensure proper operations and effective managing of public toilets. Toilets can be turned remotely controlled to prevent unwarranted usage. Indian startup IPToilet creates a smart public toilet that has electronic sensors to keep it hygienic despite improper use by occupants. The toilet floor will be cleaned automatically after four to ten visits. The toilets come equipped with power and water backup in case of unexpected power loss or water scarcity.
Pulse – Public Health Monitoring Station
The cost of healthcare is rising. By collecting vast amounts of healthcare data, the various causes of diseases are becoming easier to identify, predict and treat with the help of Public Health Monitoring Stations. They generate health reports and risk indicators for common diseases based on monitored body parameters. Pulse, an Indian startup, creates a solution called Pulse Active Station, which generates a health report with over 21 body parameters and risk indicators for 12 lifestyle diseases. The station is placed in a public area with high footfall, such as malls and hospitals, and records information including physical dimensions such as height, weight and BMI, cardiovascular factors like blood pressure, SPO2 and rate of pulse, body composition analysis for body fat percentage, mineral content, muscle strength, bone strength and body water content.
What About The Other 166 Solutions?
While we believe data is key to creating insights it can be easy to be overwhelmed by it. Our ambition is to create a comprehensive overview and provide actionable innovation intelligence for your Proof of Concept (PoC), partnership, or investment targets. The 5 startups showcased above are promising examples out of 171 we analyzed for this article. To identify the most relevant solutions based on your specific criteria and collaboration strategy, get in touch.
