Advertising column 4.0: from advertising to warning
LOEWE Center emergenCity develops important addition to existing warning system
2024/09/18
As part of the warning day organised by the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK), the LOEWE centre ‘emergenCITY’ is looking into the question of how the population can be warned in the event of a prolonged power outage. The idea is to integrate the good old advertising column into the warning system.
TU researchers Annette Rudolph-Cleff, Michèle Knodt, Alice Engel and Joachim Schulze have developed an innovative solution for this: the ‘advertising column 4.0’. This new form of advertising column could be an important addition to the existing warning system.
The advertising column 4.0 is to be equipped with a digital display on which warning messages can be shown in an emergency. It is energy self-sufficient and has an integrated photovoltaic system and a methanol fuel cell that can guarantee a power supply for up to 72 hours. This means that it can function even in the event of a prolonged power failure.
The advertising column 4.0 utilises the fact that advertising pillars are already firmly anchored in the cityscape and are accepted by the population. These columns are present in many neighbourhoods and therefore offer themselves as low-cost and effective warning multipliers. The inauguration of the prototype and a subsequent survey on acceptance among the population of Darmstadt are planned for the end of the year.
