A circle of 12 double-sided LED totems has been installed in Sunderland city centre, complete with AI software, ultrasonic sensors and surround sound.

The ultrasonic sensors in the two-metre high LED totems at Pixel Plaza detect movement, enabling them to respond with dynamic visuals and audio.

Visitors who interact with the totems can stream 360° immersive content to their own devices. The LED screens also display ambient animations that react in real time to environmental factors such as maritime and weather data.

Personalised rugby avatars
During the Women’s Rugby World Cup, which brought 42,000 people to the city in northern England in August, the totems’ AI functionality allowed fans to generate their own personalised rugby player avatar. In total, more than 4,600 images were generated by fans from 20 countries.

Over the festive period, visitors to the plaza will be able to picture themselves as one of Santa’s elves by using the totems’ AI avatar generator.

Pixel Plaza was created by Sunderland City Council and immersive technology company Hot Dark Matter, enabled by a private 5G network from Sunderland’s smart-city partner, Boldyn Networks.

The totems are served by several applications running on local servers and a controller connected to the displays.

Powered in the backend by a P2P wireless mmWave network, the 5G connectivity provides seamless low-latency data transmission between sensors, displays and user devices.

This ensures real-time interactivity for users and high-quality video streaming without lag or buffering.

‘A living sculpture’
Hot Dark Matter’s creative director, Alex Lambert, said: “Pixel Plaza is public art at city scale – a living sculpture that reflects Sunderland’s legacy and the world around it, while creating a space for people to play, gather and enjoy together.

“It shifts with the city’s mood, weather and people, so every moment feels unique.”

Liz St Louis, director of smart cities and enabling services at Sunderland City Council, added: “It’s incredible to see this interactive display in place and demonstrate the imaginative and inventive ways we can use our smart city’s cutting-edge digital infrastructure to enhance the visitor experience in and around the city.”