E Ink, Papercast Deliver Japan’s First Smart Signage Bus Stop

E Ink Holdings and Papercast Ltd., a provider of solar-powered passenger information display technology, announced their partnership to deploy Japan’s first smart bus stop displays, piloting in Aizuwakamatsu city, 135 miles from Tokyo.
 
The next generation smart bus stop leverages 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 smart bus stop displays will replace traditional paper signage, reducing the high cost of manually updating information. Digitally connecting bus stops will also provide passengers with a more convenient way to access transportation information in real-time. In addition, the displays provide multi-language services for travelers, creating a better travel experience.
 
“By utilizing E Ink’s ePaper display solutions, we have developed a platform that is cost-effective, low-power and easy to use,” said Rado Skender, director of Business Development at Papercast, Ltd.
 
The inherent paper-like properties of E Ink technology make it ideal for bus signs as the display will be easily viewed under direct sunlight, and due to E Ink’s bistable technology, displays can hold an image without power since power is only required when the image or content is changing or being updated. This attribute allowed Papercast to create a solar-powered sign that alleviates the need for electrical wiring.
 
In Japan, there are more than 500,000 bus stops with 90 percent having no power source, so it was a pre-requisite that the display technology used is low-power and can be easily installed without connecting to the grid or using network cables.

First smart bus stop signage in Japan to use E Ink’s electronic paper displays. (Source: E Ink)