Introducing IKE, Tampa's Personal Interactive Tour Guide

TAMPA, FL — Meet IKE, the city of Tampa's personal tour guide. IKE can give directions, highlight sights of interest, give suggestions on where to eat and warn residents and visitors about traffic hazards.

The best part is IKE's services are completely free.

Developed by Orange Barrel Media of Columbus, Ohio, IKE SmartCity, the new Interactive Kiosk Experience (IKE), will be stationed at strategic locations throughout Tampa to keep residents better informed and help visitors get around the city.

IKE is already operating in a number of major metropolitan areas including Denver, St. Louis, Cleveland and Baltimore.

The Tampa Downtown Partnership, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor and Tampa City Council chairman Orlando Gudes unveiled the first two of 30 new IKE kiosks during ribbon-cutting ceremonies Wednesday.

"Innovation is part of the fabric of Tampa. From our thriving startup community to our streets, it's in everything we strive to do," Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said. "Our city is growing more than ever before, and providing access to information is critical to our community."

The multilingual, ADA-compliant kiosks offer a hyper-local experience through a suite of applications that support area business, improve mobility and provide resources and services.

Each IKE is programmed with geographic coordinates that automatically populate detailed directory listings with businesses situated within a customizable radius of the kiosk's location.

A multimodal trip-planning application helps people navigate around the city with mapping and real-time transit information.

"We are giving people a digital roadmap of what's open and where to visit,"said Lynda Remund, president and CEO of the nonprofit Tampa Downtown Partnership. "This makes it easier to find and support the local businesses and venues that make our city so unique. And, after the pandemic, we must get even more creative to help them stay and thrive in Tampa."

In addition to functioning as an interactive tour guide, IKE's free Wi-Fi and easily accessible information on social services narrow the digital divide while ambient lighting and an emergency call system improve public safety.

IKE can disseminate critical public safety information as well as important community messages in a highly visible way.

"For far too long, East Tampa has been last at the table for anything innovative and today, we are changing that," said Councilman Orlando Gudes, who serves East Tampa's District 5. "This kiosk will provide neighborhood information, space for small and micro businesses to advertise, free Wi-Fi within its vicinity and fun interactive tools and games for our kids."

When not in use, IKE will display a mix of community, art and commercial messaging. The double-sided kiosks will regularly exhibit new projects by local and international artists in collaboration with Tampa's cultural and arts organizations.

A launch project will feature "Welcome to Tampa" graphics provided by artists with Aaron Evans, Tracey R. Jones and Rojo of the TT Art Collective. The New Roots Art Collective and Abbi Creates Studio are also providing graphics.

IKE has also partnered with the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) and the Tampa Museum of Art to promote their exhibitions on the kiosks. Other partnerships are in development.

"We are excited to partner with the city of Tampa and the Tampa Downtown Partnership to offer an innovative, hyper-local experience that drives discovery, mobility and equity," said Pete Scantland, CEO of IKE SmartCity."And we appreciate the opportunity to collaborate in activating the public spaces in downtown Tampa with art and community programming."

The kiosks do not require any money from the city of Tampa or taxpayers. IKE SmartCity delivers and operates all aspects of the program with revenue generated by strictly controlled advertising content.

The first two of the new flat-screen electric kiosks are located at The Sail Plaza, 333 S. Franklin St. and at the Lee David Neighborhood Service Center at 3402 N. 22nd St.