This Founder Launched Interactive Kiosks In JFK International Airport To Connect Travelers To Nearby Experiences And Events
Abiodun Johnson is helping travelers connect to nearby experiences.
When Johnson was two months old, he moved to Nigeria to live with his grandparents until he was 6 ½ years old. He returned to Memphis, TN, where he was born. Throughout his life, he has immersed himself in new communities, and told AFROTECH™ it was harder to feel like a local. He has lived in seven cities spanning three countries and two continents. For the last decade, he has lived in New York City and is splitting his time between Puerto Rico.
Nearvana
His experience living in multiple places sparked his latest tech venture, Nearvana, a local search platform he co-founded with Jay Jackson (CTO), to help people, particularly travelers, easily find nearby events, places, and experiences.
“We really wanted to look at the possibilities of location data and how it could be used to shape more meaningful real-world experiences,” Johnson (CEO) said.
“That’s when it really clicked for us that the physical world hasn’t caught up with the personalization we take for granted online. And there’s an opportunity to change how people navigate and experience place. And this problem is universal, but we know no one group really feels it more intensely than those who are travelers, right? So how do we help travelers immediately connect,” he continued.
Launching At JFK International Airport
Nearvana has multiple products, including its web platform and an interactive kiosk, which launched in May at the John F. Kennedy International Airport. It’s located in Terminal 4’s baggage claim area.
Travelers in one of the busiest airports in the nation can search through several tabs that read tourist activities, events, and places. They can select between the five boroughs: Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. The information collected can be accessed by scanning a QR code, which will direct travelers to its web app, Nia.
A mobile app is projected to be released on the Google Play and Apple App stores later this week, according to information shared with AFROTECH™.
Travelers can input their email to retrieve the information.
“As people get off their planes and they’re waiting for their luggage, they’re able to kind of discover what this the local city has to offer, in this case, it’s New York,” Johnson said.
“So they can find parties, they can find tourist activities, excursions, they can find places like speakeasy bars, rooftop bars, which are one of the top four activities that people are looking for,” Johnson added.
“It’s all about enhancing the passenger experience. So, creating an additional touch point or a moment of touch points that basically elicits great emotion. So people leveraging the kiosk, they really enjoy and love having the opportunity to be able to have technology at their fingertips and help them navigate the city once they leave the airport,” he continued.
So far, the interactive kiosk has logged at least 2,660 sessions with users remaining active for an average of one minute and 30 seconds, according to a post shared on LinkedIn. Additionally, beyond rooftop bars, parks, sporting events, and restaurants are also top interest points.
Expanding In The Airport
The success of the first kiosk has led the technology to expand to the Terminal 4 General Waiting Area, and it has a charging station for travelers to power their cellular devices, according to a post shared on Johnson’s LinkedIn.
“Specifically, JFK Terminal 4, they’re very innovation-leaning, so they’re usually the first to try a lot of different innovative technology. So they’re definitely interested in working with us and elevating the passenger experience. It’s a great opportunity for us as someone who’s been a New York native for a while,” Johnson mentioned.
“Also, it’s significant … New York City is another World Cup host city. So we’re looking to pilot this but also extend and be on the pilot to help all the World Cup fans who come in, be able to navigate the city and find things that they’re interested in,” he added.
What’s Next
Looking ahead, Nearvana will strengthen the user experience by offering curated recommendations, which will be supported through the building of an AI chatbot that will learn likes and preferences and exist within the platform’s Nia app.
The chatbot is projected to be released in December.
“As you go places, you’re liking events, we’ll start to really personalize and fine-tune what you see on your map. So that’s, we’re building our V1, we’re looking to launch it by the end of this year, but that’s where we’re headed next, is the AI side of things and also leveraging AI to automate a lot of local purchases that you may make. But that’s further down the line,” Johnson mentioned.
