Soofa turns cities into R&D labs with smart city infrastructure.
Your smart city project doesn't need to have a million dollar budget. At Soofa we believe it starts with four bolts. With those bolts in the ground you start evaluating immediately, gathering the public's input and testing the technology. We believe in using the word "pilot" not as simply a phrase to counter risk aversion, rather as a true phase 1 of a larger project; it is a time for objective testing and working together to ensure our technology solves exactly what you need it to.
Soofa is based in Cambridge's innovation hub between MIT and Harvard. Naturally, Cambridge and Boston have been our R&D testing ground since we launched in 2014 out of the MIT Media Lab. We have since added over 120 cities to that list who are using Soofa technology. Please view our Privacy Policy to see how we collect, use and share data from our pedestrian activity monitoring sensors.
Soofa Case Studies
See how cities are using Soofa Signs to amplify city communications, boost wayfinding efforts, and activate their local economies.
Soofa Signs have reached Milpitas, California, making them the eighth city in the state to use our solar-powered communication platform. The Soofa Signs are located near key places of community gatherings, allowing residents to engage in city happenings and see public service announcements.
Five impressive vinyl wrapped Soofa Signs were utilized throughout the most heavily foot-trafficked areas of the Seaport District.
The D.C. Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE) and Living Classrooms, an experiential learning organization, has brought Soofa technology to Kingman and Heritage Islands Park.
Soofa Signs have now reached the City of East Providence, Rhode Island! Home to historical sites and a fourteen mile waterfront, the active and diverse community of East Providence is an ideal fit for Soofa technology.
Located in Eastern Oregon, Hermiston is home to multiple parks and over 19000 residents. The community is now home to the first Soofa Signs in the state.
Summit County, located within the Salt Lake City Metropolitan area of Utah, has brought Soofa signs to their community known for outdoor recreation and skiing.
Soofa continues to expand its Georgia footprint with two recent installations outside of the City of Atlanta, where Soofa Signs have been located for years. The cities of Fayetteville and Powder Springs recently installed Soofa Signs to enhance city communication and boost community engagement and tourism.
Continuing the rapid expansion throughout the Northeast, Soofa technology has arrived in the state of New Hampshire, in partnership with Orbit Group and the City of Manchester.
Soofa Signs have made their way to the vibrant and bustling city of Miami, Florida, through a partnership between Soofa and the Miami-Dade County Department of Transportation and Public Works
Soofa Signs arrived in Atlanta in 2018 and quickly expanded within the city limits. Soofa has now expanded outside of the City of Atlanta with a recent installation in nearby Sugar Hill, GA.
After rapid expansion in the Greater Boston area, Soofa Signs have arrived in Amherst, MA, located two hours west of Boston. The Town of Amherst is helping to bridge the digital divide by bringing Soofa Signs and charging cores to Amherst’s downtown center.
Town of Watertown has installed Soofa Signs to amplify the town’s public communications, sharing town updates, meeting agendas, and up-to-the-minute emergency messaging regarding COVID-19 and other emergent situations.
Medford, MA, installed Soofa Signs in its five business districts to increase citizen engagement and make city communications more accessible. Situated between Somerville and Malden, Medford is the tenth city in the Greater Boston area to install Soofa Signs.
Legacy Place, an outdoor lifestyle destination and shopping center, is using Soofa Signs to highlight upcoming events and retail specials to its visitors.
Soofa expands its footprint in the Greater Boston area with an installation of five Signs in the Town of Winthrop.
Soofa Signs will be used to push out important PSAs, health guidelines, and resources for community members and businesses alike, as well as real-time transportation information.
Soofa provides cities with a tool that, in times of emergency, allows for both flexible and instantaneous messages. We are working with government partners to design specific COVID-19 PSA templates, which can be easily adapted to post new updates regarding school closures, canceled events, transportation disruptions, relief fund options, and general public health guidelines.
The City of Malden is installing Soofa Signs in Malden Center that will improve public communication, enhance wayfinding for visitors, and empower the local business community to advertise to passersby.
Resources
White papers
Data-Driven Decision Making Tools for Smart Cities
This paper addresses the benefits of using data to better understand a city and its constituents. The paper shares insights, tools and sources to assess and report on use of public spaces and the health of a local economy.
Public Arts
This paper discusses the transformative power of public art and the relationship of public art to the urban experience: from successful ways public art has been meaningful to communities, to how cities and developers use public art, and opportunities and challenges for public art.
Published June 2018