This is an interesting concept to redevelop the role and use of the traditional phone booth in New York City, where there are still over 11,412 pay phones in place today. Here in London, there are over 15,000 of the iconic K6 pay phones originally designed in 1935.

Evolving these into modern day kiosks is great way to revitalize and connect a city because, honestly, when is the last time you saw someone using a pay phone to make a call?

As posted a few weeks ago we wrote a post that bus stops in London are starting to have NFC integrated, for tap advertising opportunities. You’ll notice in this video the example prototype there shows “tap to save.” NFC will be the mechanism to download and share information to the phone.

So what role can these kiosks play in major cities to accomodate the needs of modern times when most people will have smartphones? The main advantage of the kiosk is the size, scale and privacy offered by the structures. As you enter a kiosk, tapping your phone to identify your preferences and needs could trigger useful and targeted content and promotions, specifically tailored to your needs. The ability to see, touch and explore on a large screen can offer creative experience that you can’t get on your phone today.

Google Glass and Apple’s rumored iWatch could potentially change that. But if we assume that not everyone will have access to features like that for some time, the role of a universally networked kiosk tied to your personal preferences gives new license and opportunity to smaller more localized businesses, as well as the bigger ones, to interact with you on a personalized basis. Giving mobile devices access to kiosks could be akin to ships navigating via a lighthouse or aircraft exchanging information with air traffic control towers; the kiosks could direct users and exchange relevant hyper-local information.

This is another strong example of the evolution that omnichannel will offer in our lives in the very near future. What are other common every elements that are due for a makeover to make our lives better? Can you see the kiosk being valuable in your every day life?