Title: Smart Santander RA
Location: Santander, Cantabria, Spain
Categories: None
Topics:
Population: 176,000 | HDI: 0.869 | Annual budget: None | Expenditure per capita: None | Source of the socio-economic indicators: None
Santander

Date Published: March 28, 2018, 2:48 p.m.



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martSantanderRA is a free App for Android and IoS smartphones based on augmented reality technology that has been developed within the SmartSantander project. The App includes information about 2700 places in the city of Santander divided in different categories: beaches, park and gardens, monuments, Points Of Interest (POI), tourism offices, shops, art galleries, museums, libraries, culture events agenda, shops, public buses, taxis, bikes, parking places, etc. It allows real time access to traffic and beaches cameras, weather reports and forecast, public buses information and bike-rental service, generating a unique ecosystem for citizens and visitors when walking around the city. On starting the AR view, the App creates on the smartphone screen, an overlay over the camera with nearby POIs. If a particular POI is selected, further information (title, short description, photo and distance to the POI) is displayed. Apart from that, the App allows creating the route to that place or playing digital content related to the POI (e.g. videos) if it is available. SmartSantander, developed by companies and institutions including Telefonica I+D and the University of Cantabria, aims to design, deploy, and validate a platform composed of sensors, actuators, cameras, monitors, and communication facilities to offer useful information to citizens in Santander and its environsSince 2010, 12,500 sensors have been placed in and around the city’s downtown district, where they measure everything from the amount of trash in containers to the number of parking spaces available, to the size of crowds on the sidewalks. In addition, sensors on vehicles such as police cars and taxicabs measure air pollution levels and traffic conditions.Santander has launched an app called “Pace of the City,” which users can download to receive up-to-date information about city events. The alerts are even geocoded so that people can use their phones to get to eventsUsing about 2,000 quick response (QR) codes, the city has tagged points of interest, shops and public places around Santander. They have proven useful as a way to provide tourists with information about what the city has to offer and where they can find it. Geographical location, for instance, is also helping with the city’s transit system. Using one of Santander’s apps, a person can get bus arrival times simply by pointing the phone at the bus stop.