Houston City Council to Vote on Installation of Informational Kiosks

[trymahjong]

Soooooooo one of these showed up at Discovery Green- Thefirst thing you find out is it doesn’t talk —-the next thing…..if you give it your cell number, it will take a photo of you and text it to you 

[BEES?!]

I saw this on CI, but I think everyone else beat me to the punch.

 

https://communityimpact.com/houston/heights-river-oaks-montrose/technology/2022/02/08/first-of-new-interactive-kiosks-unveiled-in-houston-brings-digital-maps-information-to-city-streets/

[j_cuevas713]

[X.R.]

Those are sick. Only big, actual cities have those!!

[august948]

1 hour ago, X.R. said:

Those are sick. Only big, actual cities have those!!

And to think all this time I thought Houston was a big, actual city.  Silly me...😛

[j_cuevas713]

17 hours ago, august948 said:

And to think all this time I thought Houston was a big, actual city.  Silly me...😛

I get what he's saying though lol. We are decades overdue for tech like this throughout the city. The open invitation it offers to street life is immeasurable. 

[editor]

On 3/3/2022 at 1:07 PM, j_cuevas713 said:

I get what he's saying though lol. We are decades overdue for tech like this throughout the city. The open invitation it offers to street life is immeasurable. 

For those of us who don't have the same enthusiasm or vision for this project that you have, can you elaborate a bit more?

[j_cuevas713]

On 3/10/2022 at 12:22 PM, editor said:

For those of us who don't have the same enthusiasm or vision for this project that you have, can you elaborate a bit more?

I'm a motion/graphic designer, and I deal with aesthetics and how stuff "feels" all day long. That's the basis of my job basically. These kiosks add some vibrancy to the streetscape. The pedestrian realm is only as inviting as you make it. For example, compare a 3ft sidewalk to a 10ft sidewalk. While a 3ft sidewalk is "walkable" and will get you from point A to point B, it's not necessarily inviting. Sure it's accessible but that's it. A 10ft sidewalk "feels" intentional. It feel's like "Hey they made this for me to walk." I said this on another post a while back, what makes cities like SF or Chicago so vibrant at street level isn't just the population density but it's the added layers of activity over the years to each neighborhood. These kiosks are another layer added to the neighborhood. The more layers and activity we add the more vibrant the neighborhood becomes. A common quote you hear people say is, "There's nothing a new coat of paint can't fix." And the point of that statement is that it takes a simple adjustment to make something better and more aesthetically appealing. The best part of these kiosks is the city doesn't pay a cent. On the tech side it shows we give a damn, because for visitors perception is everything, especially if they are trying to navigate the city. Someone said, "Well you have a phone that does the same thing." And while that's true, the point is for people to engage and interact with the city, not be stuck on their phone. Also I can travel to Chicago on my phone and never step on a plane, but did I really experience Chicago? We need people to experience Houston in order to remove the poor perceptions of this city. This is a step in that direction. 

Edited July 17, 2022 by j_cuevas713

[BigRed]

What's the time on build out for all of these?!

[editor]

OK, because of the above, I'm finally convinced these are a good thing. Hopefully they'll be maintained.

I just wish the slides would change at a slower rate.  There isn't time to read the ad/PSA before the next one comes along.  We don't all have the attention span of a cracked-out squirrel.

 

[Blue Dogs]

On 7/9/2022 at 2:01 PM, editor said:

OK, because of the above, I'm finally convinced these are a good thing. Hopefully they'll be maintained.

I just wish the slides would change at a slower rate.  There isn't time to read the ad/PSA before the next one comes along.  We don't all have the attention span of a cracked-out squirrel.

 

When were these things built ? Under the White or Parker administrations ?

[editor]

Just now, Blue Dogs said:

When were these things built ? Under the White or Parker administrations ?

They went in a few months ago.  So they're Turner era, but I don't know if planning started back in a different administration.

[Blue Dogs]

On 9/1/2022 at 3:49 PM, editor said:

They went in a few months ago.  So they're Turner era, but I don't know if planning started back in a different administration.

Big question is whether they get dismantled under a new administration 🤔 ?

[editor]

On 9/24/2022 at 2:02 PM, Blue Dogs said:

Big question is whether they get dismantled under a new administration 🤔 ?

Probably not dismantled.  Probably just neglected until they don't work anymore, and then they'll just sit in the public way and embarrass us in front of visitors.

Like almost all of the fountains in the downtown "Costwald District," and the ones at Main Street Square, and Sesquicentennial Park, and...

[JLWM8609]

Did it work? Are we a World Class city now?

Also, how long until one of these gets hacked to display pornography?

[Ross]

13 hours ago, JLWM8609 said:

Did it work? Are we a World Class city now?

Also, how long until one of these gets hacked to display pornography?

The hacking sounds like a great assignment for the coding club at a high school.

As an alternative to porn, how about the Eye of Sauron, with comments like "I'm watching you"? Let's start creating some paranoia!

[Houston19514]

On 10/1/2022 at 2:48 PM, editor said:

Probably not dismantled.  Probably just neglected until they don't work anymore, and then they'll just sit in the public way and embarrass us in front of visitors.

Like almost all of the fountains in the downtown "Costwald District," and the ones at Main Street Square, and Sesquicentennial Park, and...

You’ve made this claim about the “Cotswald” [sic] fountains before.  It was false then and it is false now.

Main Street Square Fountain repairs are in process.  I believe the Downtown District approved funding for the repairs ($65,000) at their most recent board meeting.

Edited October 5, 2022 by Houston19514

[mattyt36]

On 9/24/2022 at 2:02 PM, Blue Dogs said:

Big question is whether they get dismantled under a new administration 🤔 ?

And ship them to San Antonio?

[BEES?!]

On 10/2/2022 at 11:35 AM, Houston19514 said:

Main Street Square Fountain repairs are in process.  I believe the Downtown District approved funding for the repairs ($65,000) at their most recent board meeting.

Yes, I think you are correct! I’m really happy to hear that they’ll be getting some TLC. They’re pretty neat and a fun little bit of placemaking for downtown!

On 7/9/2022 at 2:01 PM, editor said:

OK, because of the above, I'm finally convinced these are a good thing. Hopefully they'll be maintained.

I just wish the slides would change at a slower rate.  There isn't time to read the ad/PSA before the next one comes along.  We don't all have the attention span of a cracked-out squirrel.

 

That is a really good point. With the speed that our weather can get bad and rain conditions can turn into flood conditions, this is an important addition.

 

I’m biased against LED screens personally (They’re painful to look at for me). I’d have loved to see some kickass e-ink displays, since they’re way easier on the eyes and draw way less power IIRC. Plus they’re easier to read in sunlight. Alas, there’s not a lot of good tech to make them vibrantly colored and flashy (the colors sort of look washed out and dull at the moment) so that will just have to be my little pipe dream.

[hindesky]

[Blue Dogs]

On 11/17/2022 at 1:23 AM, hindesky said:

Assuming you've heard about the recent water boiling crisis ?

[hindesky]

1 hour ago, Blue Dogs said:

Assuming you've heard about the recent water boiling crisis ?

Yes, they got it fixed today. I first noticed the low water pressure early Sunday but didn't know at the time why because in my neighborhood in Montrose they are replacing a 72" water line so I thought it might be related to that.

[trymahjong]

I was aware of proposed Kiosk locations: Stanford at Westheimer being one. When I saw this, I wondered if COH was finally going to install one of those Kiosk?

Im wondering why not across the street in the green of the RoW--- much more room for the crowds to assemble to view ;)

Edited December 8, 2022 by trymahjong
Forgot to attach photo

[editor]

2 hours ago, trymahjong said:

Im wondering why not across the street in the green of the RoW---

Maybe because that corner already has electricity?  I don't know if the kiosks are wireless, or if they tap into whatever internet system the city uses.

Does the City of Houston have its own government data network?  I know some other cities have gotten them for free in exchange for letting wireless carriers put 5G cell sites on top light poles.

[Houston19514]

7 hours ago, trymahjong said:

I was aware of proposed Kiosk locations: Stanford at Westheimer being one. When I saw this, I wondered if COH was finally going to install one of those Kiosk?

Im wondering why not across the street in the green of the RoW--- much more room for the crowds to assemble to view ;)

I don't think the kiosks are either intended to or particularly like to gather crowds.  They are really more about being used by one or two people at a time.  I doubt accommodating the assembly of crowds was a consideration in their location decisions.

Edited December 8, 2022 by Houston19514

[trymahjong]

Drove by at Waughcrest and Westheimer and noticed this...........I always like a photo contest

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by trymahjong

[trymahjong]

 Now at Stanford and Westheimer-- the placement makes it difficult to view west bound traffic.

 

The photo contest I'd apparently still going on😶

[004n063]

There's one of these next to the former Whole Foods location in Midtown. A giant touchscreen kiosk next to a four-lane highway onramp masquerading as a city street. "Smart city" stuff.