On the same day as the mural project, Cisco unveiled its countdown clock and kiosk with the assistance of Cirque du Soleil acrobats. Photo courtesy Cisco
Games at your fingertips
At the 2-m (6.5-ft) tall, 1.5-m (5-ft) wide and 0.5-m (1.5-ft) thick kiosk, which houses two Cisco 3010 industrial Ethernet switches in a similar metal frame with aluminum exterior cladding, visitors can access information about the games, the clock and Cisco’s technology at either of two 1.2-m screens. Interactivity is enabled by touch-screen foil, reinforced behind a layer of security glass.
Visitors can also use a custom app to take a photo of themselves in the public square, download it to their smartphone and create a virtual postcard for sharing via social networks and/or viewing on the clock’s own online photo page.
“We will turn on new features over the next year,” says Seifert. “We will unveil near-field communications (NFC) capabilities, for example, and embedded camera technology that can enable two-way video, so we can connect athletes with their hometowns. There will constantly be new content and surprises.”
The project will also reach beyond Nathan Phillips Square. While the kiosk is a long-term installation like the clock, anchored in cement, Cisco says it will also serve as a model for additional, shorter-term ‘satellite’ kiosk clocks that will appear at other location as the games draw nearer, using the same network infrastructure.
“The secondary clocks will be derivative of the main one, but with some variations depending on their location,” says Freedlander.
“We also have widgets that can go on other people’s digital signage networks,” says Seifert. “Cisco is a business-to-business (B2B) company, not business-to-consumer (B2C), and this project is a way to show our customers—including retailers, banks and technology partners—what they can do with our products.”
With files from the TO2015 Organizing Committee, Chevrolet Canada, MacLaren McCann, Jacqui Oakley, the Exhibit Store, Octanorm Canada, Cisco Canada, Fourth Wall Media, Enseicom, Optimum Graphiques, X2O Media and Trade Sync. For more information, visit www.toronto2015.org, www.chevrolet.gm.ca, www.maclaren.com, www.jacquioakley.com, www.exhibitstore.ca, www.octanorm.net, www.ciscotoronto2015.ca, www.fourthwall.ca, www.ensei.com, www.optimumgraphiques.com, www.x2omedia.com and www.tradesync.ca.
