New technology to be trialled at Argyle Square

Argyle Square will become the site of a new trial into data-collection technology that could become a permanent feature of Melbourne’s streets and parks in the near future.

Emerging technology such as 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) will be used to measure temperature, humidity, pedestrian traffic, bench usage, air quality and bin fullness to help the City of Melbourne make informed decisions about public spaces.

Cr Phillip Le Liu said the Argyle Square testbed was an excellent way to explore how

new and different technologies could benefit Melbourne.

“A number of sensors have been installed in the square to help track and understand park activity. Some sensors anonymously track how people use the square, while others assess the park environment,” Cr Le Liu said

“We are testing the usefulness of the data collected to explore if it can be used to improve the community’s park experience in Argyle Square, as well as other parks and open spaces in the City of Melbourne.”

The Argyle Square pilot involves placing sensors around the square to collect data that will improve the park experience and will potentially be applied to other parks and open spaces in the municipality.

Sensors will monitor things such as stage usage through motion detectors, bin fill level with infrared technology and bench usage through vibration.

The collected data will then be used by council to make the city smarter, by placing cooling infrastructure where it gets most hot, and scheduling waste removal at the appropriate times.

The trial is in partnership with Amazon Web Services, Citywide, Peclet Technology, Phoria, Meshed, Smart City Solutions and University of Melbourne.

The council is currently looking for participants to engage in workshops in Argyle Square that will gauge community sentiment about the new technology.

Cr Le Liu said the workshops would involve one-on-one interviews with community members in partnership with Monash University’s Emerging Technologies Lab Team.

Ten walking tours will also run during Melbourne Knowledge Week in late April.

“We are working with Monash University to learn more about our community members’ hopes and concerns in relation to this data collection, as well as emerging technology more broadly. Conversations with community members have been very informative so far and the feedback has been positive,” Cr Le Liu said.

“We encourage people to come along to one of our walking tours during Melbourne Knowledge Week.”

“We’ll be able to introduce the Argyle Square pilot and the Emerging Technology Testbed function and talk more about the possibilities for using new and emerging technology in the City of Melbourne.”