Midtown Atlanta’s Foremost Mixed-Use-Community Finds its way to the Future with Interactive Wayfinding Technology
With modern art, 5-star cuisine, & top-tier events, Colony Square continues expanding on its reputation as the “Community of the future”
At the corner of 14th and Peachtree Streets in Midtown Atlanta sits Colony Square, the first mixed-use development to rise in the Southeast more than 50 years ago. North American Properties (NAP) acquired Colony Square in 2015 and has since radically reimagined its existence to create “Midtown’s Living Room.” Today, Colony Square is home to a collection of 20-plus service-driven retailers, restaurants and entertainment offerings; nearly one million square feet of Class A office space; a 20,000-square-foot food hall; first-to-state luxury dine-in cinema IPIC; 262 luxury residences; the 466-key Hotel Midtown by Hilton; and 25,000 square feet of outdoor greenspace. The amenity-rich destination also boasts a full-service Concierge and Valet, a dedicated rideshare zone, a helipad and over 200 artful encounters. In addition, Colony Square is positioned to become one of the country’s most technologically advanced mixed-use developments.
22Miles 3D Interactive Wayfinding system with Secure Mobile Control was installed and positioned across four kiosks in and around Colony Square. Digital + Innovation Manager Jay Yu speaks about the process of curating the technology to ensure Colony Square’s user experience would live up to the iconic area’s allure.
“We see guests interacting constantly with our kiosks every day of the week. Since October 2020, we have seen more than 155,400 button clicks and 51,000 visits for our wayfinding system. Seeing these numbers surpassed our expectations.”
– Jay Yu | Digital + Innovation Manager for North American Properties (NAP)
The Art of Modern Life
Known for its culinary uniqueness, the chef-driven food hall Politan Row features 11 independent food and beverage concepts; a central bar; a fully equipped private event space; a secret, hidden bar; and 22,000 square feet of open-air seating, including The Patio with an outdoor bar, shuffleboards and a reversible stage. The food hall is a major attraction of the area, energized from day to night, weekdays to weekends, fostering a spirit of exploration by connecting people through food. Colony Square hosts over 200 annual community-driven events, too, which keeps The Square lively 24/7.
Several notable companies also occupy office space at Colony Square, including the South regional office headquarters for Whole Foods Market Inc., SnapNurse, WeWork, Bally Sports, the broadcast studios of four major Entercom Atlanta radio stations, and global law firm Jones Day.
With this diverse collection of businesses, arts and entertainment offerings, urban residences and the hotel, navigating and engaging in the rich experiences of Colony Square required a level of modern technology sophistication that would match the iconic area’s allure.
22Miles Wayfinding | Digital Signage Solutions | Secure Mobile Control
BUILDING THE USER EXPERIENCE FOR COLONY SQUARE
The curated user experience of Colony Square begins with 22Miles’ immersive 3D wayfinding experience, powered by the compact computing technology of an intel processor, with digital signage and custom kiosk design by Visual Image. 22 Miles partnered with Meridian Kiosks for the kiosk engineering and build, making the journey a touch, or touchless experience.
Visitors can explore the many dining options, events and businesses of Colony Square using the interactive menus to gather quick information, plan their experience in Midtown’s Living Room, and get instant, arrow-driven turn-by-turn directions to any of the attractions within the robust Midtown community. Residents and others can see updated schedules of happenings, learn about what’s new, and interact with whatever information the community wants to share on the large, digital user screens.
As part of the award-winning PaaS (Protection-as-a-Service) suite initiative, 22Miles also provided Colony Square with a “Touchless Touch” option, where users can simply scan a QR code and interact with any of the facility’s four interactive screens on their own mobile device – providing a safer and more hygienic interactive experience.
At the heart of Colony Square’s interactive navigation experience sits 22Miles’ content management software, Publisher Pro.AioT. The technology eliminates uncertainty, saves time, and ensures optimum engagement for visitors, employees and residents alike, helping them seamlessly navigate and interact with all facets of this dynamic destination. The solution allows an endless array of visual communications options as Colony Square continues to grow, empowering administrators to utilize their digital signage platform to deliver news, social media, live notifications, emergency alerts, advertisements, infotainment, and any other information they choose.
More About 22Miles Technology Wayfinding System
Three key solutions make up the Colony Square interactive experience from the moment you enter the perimeter of the community’s massive centralized outdoor atrium.
3D Interactive Wayfinding
Featuring Wayfinding Navigation, backend analytics & more
22Miles offers an enhanced platform, simplified for administrators with adaptive technology options for preferred routes, ADA wheelchair adjustments, hoteling map dynamics, and density controlled traffic flows. The wayfinding system enables all the necessary tools to promote convenience, safety, and agility successfully within any environment for all audiences.
With all its attractions, 22Miles wayfinding brings instant connectivity and easy user navigation to Colony Square’s visitors, tenants, staff, and residents. Engineered for any facility type regardless of size, interactive wayfinding delivers visually dynamic navigation, providing an immersive user experience.
Each of Colony Square’s community spaces, amenities, tenants and surrounding attractions can be viewed and mapped to with turn-by-turn pathway directions displayed on the screen or the user’s mobile device.
The wayfinding experience saves time, fosters exploration and engagement, and features:
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Enhanced 3D Map Views (with 3D Design, Fly Over, Stacked View, Multi-floor destination, 360-degree direction controls, and screen orientation
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Smart Pathway Algorithm (new-normal or restricted Automatic Destination Routing)
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Intelligent built-in wayfinding algorithm that auto-generates directions based on personalized shortest path and ease of accessibility
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Dynamic Map Pop Ups (Pop-up descriptions and images, alerts and safety notices)
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ADA/Wheelchair Routes
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Detour Pathway Rerouting (occupancy control pathways)
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Smart Search
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Map it Now (Instant display of turn-by-turn directions through SMS, QR Codes, Emails, and Printing)
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Wayfinding Analytics (Easily track and monitor navigation searches occupancy and usage data)
Digital Signage Solutions – 22Miles Publisher Pro.AioT Content Management System
Administrators of Colony Square can curate the user experience within the latest version of 22Miles flagship CMS PublisherPro. The expansive interface lets admins:
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Create a unified communications experience through a centralized, user friendly, content management solution
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Customize whatever information is displayed across Colony Square’s 8 interactive kiosks
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Simple administration of advertisements, infotainment, transit information
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Enjoy easy access to analytics and back-end data on user experience
