The iconic neon sign at the Pike Place Market in Seattle manages to attract a lot of attention, but a glowing new structure across the street will likely turn a few curious heads, too.
The first of dozens of IKE Smart City digital wayfinding kiosks planned for downtown and around Seattle was unveiled on Tuesday at the busy intersection of First Avenue and Pike Street. It’s the realization of a years-long effort to bring the information many people access on smartphones straight to giant interactive screens at street level.
“Seattle is a tech town, and we finally have a 21st-first century modern wayfinding system,” said Jon Scholes, president and CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association, the organization that spearheaded the effort to get the kiosks approved and installed.
The devices are a product of Columbus, Ohio-based advertising company Orange Barrel Media, which is partnering with DSA on the experience. IKE devices are already deployed in more than 25 cities nationwide.
A total of 50 kiosks are planned for Seattle in two phases. The first 30 will be installed in the downtown Metropolitan Improvement District footprint, with 20 more to follow in business improvement areas including Ballard, SoDo, the University District and West Seattle.
The first four downtown units include Tuesday’s unveiling as well as another that’s operational at Fourth Avenue and Pine Street. Units at Second Avenue and Stewart Street and Third Avenue and Virginia Street are next.
Each unit stands just over 8 feet tall and 3 feet wide, with a 12½-square-foot touchscreen that functions like a giant smartphone — letting users scroll through maps, nearby restaurant listings, transit routes and city apps. The kiosks are ADA-compliant and connect to the Seamless Seattle program for real-time multimodal navigation directly from each location.
Beyond wayfinding, each kiosk serves as a free public Wi-Fi hotspot, lists nearby businesses at no charge, and includes a 911 emergency call button. At least 25% of annual screen time is reserved for non-commercial content promoting events, nonprofits and civic initiatives. An ongoing digital public art program, curated with local and national artists, is also part of the offering.
The kiosks will not include video cameras for surveillance. They do include a selfie camera that is part of a “Photo Booth” application, where users can interact and snap pictures to send to themselves. But IKE says photos are not stored on the kiosks or retained by the company.
The devices and effort to install them ultimately prevailed over those who expressed concern during Seattle Design Commission meetings about visual clutter in the city’s landscape, oversaturation of advertising, and light pollution.
The devices are maintained by Orange Barrel and come at no cost to the city or to DSA, and are sustained entirely through advertising revenue. DSA anticipates the kiosks will generate approximately $1.1 million per year, money the organization says it will reinvest into downtown programming.
Scholes said it’s a “long-term investment,” with a permit between Orange Barrel and the city that’s good “for about 20 years.”
“We believe that great downtowns make it easy for you to discover what’s happening, to take part in events, to take part in arts and cultural gatherings and attractions,” Scholes said before cutting a ceremonial ribbon cutting alongside Orange Barrel officials, and current and former City of Seattle officials.
Former Seattle City Council President Sara Nelson was in attendance to celebrate — and interact with — the devices she had long championed.
“This is the city at your fingertips,” Nelson told GeekWire. “Not only is there important information for emergencies, but it also supports our small business community — it is a focal point, it’s a gathering spot, and that is what we need more of downtown.”
The rollout of the kiosks has been in the works for more than a year. The Seattle City Council gave final approval in June 2025 by a 6-2 vote, and former Mayor Bruce Harrell — a supporter of the project — signed the legislation.
DSA had hoped to have more up and running before the start of the FIFA World Cup next week and the onslaught of expected visitors to the city. The remaining 28 planned for downtown will be installed over the next several months, Scholes said.
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