E Ink and Papercast have announced their partnership to deploy smart bus stop displays in Japan, piloting in Aizuwakamatsu city, 217 kilometres from Tokyo. The displays leverage E Ink’s ePaper solution and low power wide area (LPWA) wireless technology to provide real-time information such as bus arrivals, timetables, route data, route transfers, planned and unplanned service changes.
Managed remotely by Papercast’s data management platform, the displays are designed to replace traditional paper signage, reducing the high cost of manually updating information. Digitally connecting bus stops will also provide passengers with a way to access transportation information in real-time. In addition, the displays provide multi-language services for travellers.
In Japan, there are over 500,000 bus stops, 90% of which have no power source, so the display technology needed to be low-power and installed without connecting to the grid or using network cables.
Analyst Comment
As this article was published, we were at the PTE in Stockholm and NEC was showing us its prototype E Ink sign. Watch for the report next week. (BR)
