Battery-Powered Sandwich Board Wheels Outside Shops To Attract, Control Foot Traffic

April 23, 2020 by Dave Haynes

Predictably, writing about an emerging and suddenly hyper-relevant piece of tech has smoked out vendors who have a version on offer, and looking for customers.

I wrote Wednesday about digital sandwich/sidewalk boards that are in demand to be used as access control devices for open businesses that need to restrict access based on social distancing/venue density recommendations.

There are numerous companies out there with some version of these, but I was unaware of this very slick one from Clear Digital Solutions, which is across town from distribution giant Synnex in Greenville, SC.

The Evo Lite is interesting because it runs 14 hours on built-in batteries, and has a handle and wheels to allow it to easily be pulled out to an entry area and then wheeled back inside to charge overnight. The battery-powered aspect is important in removing tripping hazards and allowing more flexibility about where to put one or several.

The units have room for a small PC or set-top box player, and sensors – important for managing line-ups – can be added.

I always thought of these things as interesting add-ons for restaurants and shops to drive foot traffic, but wondered how many owner/operators would rationalize the much higher cost over simple print versions.

The pandemic and social distancing have made access control and information screens important to how they manage their business – with a simple screen and sensors doing what it would take full-time staff to do.