News

Reinvent the Payphone challenge chooses design winner

March 19, 2013

And the winner is ... NYFi.

The 10-foot-tall interactive digital kiosk design, by Sage and Coombe Architects, has been named the popular choice winner of New York City's Reinvent the Payphone design challenge. NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg sent out an emergency call to action to the city's design community, receiving more than 125 submissions that were put to vote on the city's Facebook page.

The NYFi features two interfaces, with touch activation and a height-sensitiveinteractive zone on either face, according to NYC Digital's Tumblr page. Two models of the NYFi were proposed: a 10-foot model for commercial and manufacturing districts and a smaller model for residential and historic districts. When not in use, the default display in commercial areas is interactive advertising or, in residential neighborhoods, wayfinding and local interest posts.

The NYFi's designers hope the combination of the design's modular hardware and flexible software will "replace the hodgepodge of single-function street appliances that currently litter the sidewalk such as bus ticket machines, Muni Meters, MetroCard machines, assistance kiosks, bicycle share stations and of course, payphones," according to its Tumblr page.

In addition to the NYFi, features from the five other designs in this slide show will be considered as the city attempts to narrow down its design criteria for the final design specifications.

Read more about interactive digital signage.