NYC BEACON Public Communication Hub: reinventing the payphone to increase community resiliency

1. The Nutshell: In plain language, tell us what your project is, what it does, and what it’s comprised of.

Beacon is the payphone reimagined for the smartphone era, a next-generation public communication hub that connects New York's communities, businesses, residents, and visitors to the city's essential services. At nearly 12 feet tall, the concept’s slender concrete and stainless steel structure stands out on city streets, enclosing a stack of indestructible LED matrix screens controlled by voice and gesture for intelligent simplicity and reliable utility. Beacon delivers free public telephony. It presents contextual information when and where it matters, from easily translated neighborhood maps for tourists to evacuation instructions in an emergency. And it generates revenue for operators via advertising.

2. The Brief: Summarize the problem you set out to solve. What was the context for the project, and what was the challenge posed to you?

Today’s public payphone is dead. The equipment is unhygienic and unwieldy; the technology is outdated and unreliable, with functions too limited for the information and communication age. Yet New York City still needs the payphone. As ubiquitous as mobile phones are, many residents and visitors don't have them. Recent events such as Superstorm Sandy have proven the need for a public emergency notification system. And the small local businesses that drive New York's vibrant street life need to advertise to compete against national chains and brands.

With its payphone vendor agreements expiring in 2014, the City of New York saw an opportunity to leverage its network of 11,412 public payphones to create a more accessible, safer, healthier, greener, and better-informed New York City. To gather feedback, the City requested prototypes for a "payphone of the future" that would be both useful to New Yorkers and lucrative for operators.

3. The Intent: What point of view did you bring to the project, and were there additional criteria that you added to the brief?

To imagine a new form of urban infrastructure, frog looked at city services from a pedestrian's perspective and designed a prototype that delivers contextual information when and where it matters. From the beginning, we chose a tall, slender stainless steel design to echo the city's iconic skyscrapers and help Beacon stand out without impinging on sidewalk real estate and visibility.

4. The Process: Describe the rigor that informed your project. (Research, ethnography, subject matter experts, materials exploration, technology, iteration, testing, etc., as applicable.) What stakeholder interests did you consider? (Audience, business, organization, labor, manufacturing, distribution, etc., as applicable)

To connect citizens and businesses, frog conceived of an open platform that lets customers display simple ads on Beacons throughout the city, acting as a friendly neighborhood message board. A demand-based pricing model ensures that advertising in low traffic areas is much cheaper than Times Square. Sophisticated microphones and sensors capture voice and gesture for touch-free operation. In an era of free email and other free messaging services, we deemed free public telephony a necessary feature, supported by premium digital signage generating a sustainable revenue stream. And in a city where more than 800 languages are spoken, Beacon translates and localizes content and news.

During and after Superstorm Sandy, frog worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Field Innovation Team to create community disaster relief centers. That experience further informed our design research.

5. The Value: How does your project earn its keep in the world? What is its value? What is its impact? (Social, educational, economic, paradigm-shifting, sustainable, environmental, cultural, gladdening, etc.)

Energy-efficient and durable, Beacon's redundant technologies, keep it connected when other communication services are down. Evacuation instructions and local updates can be broadcast on its solar-powered LED matrix screens, offering a vital link to official information in emergencies. Dedicated buttons summon police and fire services.

The touchless interface is hygienic and low-maintenance. And with no extraneous functions and no horizontal surfaces to attract dirt or trash, Beacon is nearly indestructible urban equipment.

Beacon was awarded "best visual design and user experience" by New York City officials in late 2012.