Intersecting Media and Mobility: DART Technologies

Connected Cars: Say hello to DART Technologies!

What is DART?
DART Technologies is a digital (art) product studio working at the intersection of media and mobility. DART builds location-based solutions for modern transit and urban development — placing tech-enabled mobile, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) solutions in the hands of passengers.

DART Discover is a media platform for connected cars. Our hyperlocal targeting engine streams interactive digital experiences — made by and for New York City — initially in Via rideshare vehicles. The networked fleet of in-vehicle tablets provides geo-targeted content for passengers en route to their destination.

The Discover app is also available in the Apple App Store for download on iPads.

So what does that mean for passengers riding in taxi cabs and rideshare vehicles?
We provide drivers with cell-data connected iPads mounted on the back of headrests. Through the iPads, which are kiosked to exclusively run DART Discover, passengers access an interactive discovery experience streamed in real-time.

Passenger benefits include:

• Picture yourself on the way to the movie theater, watching the trailer, and purchasing tickets on the way.
• Order coffee from a cafe nearby an upcoming meeting, and having the beverage ready to pickup upon arrival.
• Receive a tip that a restaurant near your destination is offering your favorite hot soup of the day when it’s chilly outside.
• Browse collections of art around you digitally.

Upon entering the vehicle, passengers start the trip by inputting their destination in the Discover app to receive an alert when approaching the destination. DART Discover suggests relevant content nearby including an interactive reel and a directory of retail venues based on location, time of day, day of the week, and weather. The content reel includes snack-sized video programming such as replaying highlights from ESPN and Instagram Stories posted nearby.

To complete the upgraded in-vehicle experience, an extra charging port and WiFi hotspot connectivity is available for passenger devices.

DART brings interactive, contextual content to the transit experience.

What are you hoping to get out of the Sprint Accelerator program?
We’re excited to accelerate our business development efforts with Sprint. Prior to joining the Accelerator program, Sprint was already our telco supplier for iPads and cell data.

Expanding on the initial partnership, we’re onboarding Sprint as an advertising affiliate on Discover, enabling the Sprint Digital team to target interactive experiences and promotions to attract audiences being dropped off nearby retail stores. Additionally, we’re working with Pinsight Media as a location data partner for analytics and attribution in the offline physical world.

What has your relationship been like with Sprint and Pinsight Media thus far?As a digital media platform built upon wireless infrastructure, Sprint and Pinsight Media have incredible existing assets for us to mutually benefit from. We’re collaborating with Pinsight to leverage telco data to visualize traffic flows of demographic segments moving around NYC as part of our DART Insight analytics product. This provides our media and advertising affiliates with unique location-based out-of-home targeting, distributing relevant content to relevant audiences at the relevant time and place.

What’re some other takeaways from the program?
The Kansas City community has been extremely welcoming and ready to help — especially the organizations committed to entrepreneurship education, most notably the Kauffman Foundation. I’m personally grateful as a beneficiary of Kauffman’s generosity through their support of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program and the Mayfield Fellows Program.

It’s been almost a decade since I first became acquainted with KC, having previously run a retail pilot in Kroger’s for a consumer packaged goods company. We’re enjoying being immersed in the Crossroads Arts District, seeing how KC has developed, and driving further growth for DART Discover!

Join us for the ride by following @dartdiscover on Instagram and Twitter.