Kinesus Technologies
Kinesus Technologies · Amsterdam

BenchPad.
The smart urban bench.

A solar-powered city bench with three reflective displays. People, local businesses and the municipality publish to it straight from a phone.

For the municipality
The centre screen
belongs to the city.

City news, weather, events and notices. We give the middle display to the municipality free of charge.

Local business
The neighbourhood,
one tap away.

Tap the bench with your phone or scan the QR code: the BenchPad app shows nearby cafés, shops and their offers.

Energy
Runs on
sunlight.

Reflective displays need no backlight and change only a few times a day. A solar panel and a battery keep the bench running off-grid.

Calm streets
No glare.
No light pollution.

Like printed paper: easy to read in full sun, and no bright screens glowing into the street at night.

Concept visualisation
3reflective displays
100%solar powered, no grid connection
0light pollution and paper waste
1 tapNFC or QR opens the app
The product

A bench that becomes the street's shared screen.

BenchPad replaces paper posters and glowing billboards with calm, paper-like displays that need no power cable and no light at night.

BenchPad concept render: a curved metal bench with three display panels in the backrest and solar panels in the armrests
Municipal screenThe centre display is offered to the city, free of charge, for its own information.
Two partner screensFor local businesses and for people who want to share a photo or a message.
Solar armrestsBuilt-in panels charge the battery, so the bench works without a grid connection.
Service hatchAny module — board, wiring, battery — can be swapped in minutes.

Concept render of our design target. The first full-size prototype is in development.

Send from your phone

Tap the NFC tag or scan the QR code on the bench and upload a photo or a short message.

Checked and queued

Every publication is checked and placed in a fair queue, so the screens always show appropriate content.

On the bench, with proof

The image appears on the bench and you receive a certificate confirming it was actually displayed.

Working today

The system already runs.

Our electronics prototype publishes real content from real phones. The next step is the full-size bench.

  • Since 13 OctLive public stream: visitors send photos from their phones and see them appear on a colour e-paper display.
  • ~700 kmContent is published from Amsterdam to a display in Geneva and updates reliably.
  • ProofEach publication is confirmed by the device itself before it counts as shown.
Working prototype · video
Sustainability

Information without glare or waste.

Cities fight two kinds of visual pollution. BenchPad avoids both.

Glowing LED screens

Bright all night, power-hungry and a source of light pollution in residential streets.

Paper posters

Printed, glued, torn and thrown away — every week again.

BenchPadPaper-like displays that need no light, no print and no cable — powered by the sun, updated in seconds.

Concept visualisation

Partners

Built together with the city and its businesses.

For municipalities

Modern street furniture at no cost to the city.

  • The bench, its installation and its maintenance are provided by us.
  • The centre screen is offered to the municipality free of charge for news, transport, weather and warnings.
  • Local businesses and horeca get an affordable way to reach people nearby.
  • Optional sensors for air quality and temperature, designed in line with the AVG (GDPR).
Talk to us
For local businesses

Be found by people who are already nearby.

  • Your business card in the BenchPad app, shown first to people near the bench.
  • Add your logo, a short text and an offer for BenchPad users.
  • Free, with no obligation.
  • We review every card before it goes live.
Sign up your business
Pilot proposal

A six-month pilot with 30 benches.

We propose a small-scale pilot in Amsterdam to show how public information can be calmer, more local and more energy-efficient.

30benches
6months
0grid connections
Discuss a pilot

What we measure

  1. Technical reliability and off-grid energy performance.
  2. Reach and effectiveness of municipal information.
  3. Feedback from residents and visitors.
  4. Maintenance effort and response time to reports.
Questions

What municipalities ask us.

What does BenchPad cost the municipality?

The bench, its installation and its maintenance are provided by us; the side screens are financed by local businesses. The terms of a pilot are agreed with each municipality.

Does the bench need a power connection or digging?

No. It runs on solar panels and a battery and is installed like a regular bench, without trenches for cables.

Who decides what appears on the screens?

The centre screen is for the municipality. The side screens show local businesses. Every publication is checked before it appears.

What about privacy?

No cameras, no microphones, no facial recognition. Optional sensors collect only anonymous environmental data, designed in line with the AVG (GDPR).

What if the bench is damaged?

Screens can be protected by safety glass or polycarbonate, and the electronics sit in a sealed compartment. We do the maintenance and replace modules on site. The bench reports its status, so we know when something is wrong.

Does it add light or visual clutter?

No. The displays have no backlight, show static images that change about twice a day and make no sound.

When can we start?

The full-size prototype is planned for 2027. Get in touch to discuss timing and locations for a pilot.

Roadmap

From working prototype to the street.

Electronics prototype

Phone-to-display publishing, queue and proof of display working end to end.

Kickstarter campaign

Funding the first full-size prototype; meetings with display manufacturers.

Full-size prototype

Compact solar power, new displays, LTE-M and LoRaWAN, street-ready housing.

Public field test

Our goal: the bench outdoors at a major design event, followed by the first city pilot.

About us

A small Amsterdam team building calmer cities.

Kinesus Technologies is a young technology company from Amsterdam. We believe public space can become more useful without becoming louder, brighter or more intrusive.

We develop everything that makes BenchPad work ourselves: the electronics and firmware inside the bench, the BenchPad app and the platform behind it.

Calm

Static, reflective screens instead of glowing billboards.

Local

Room for the municipality and the businesses around the corner.

Private

No cameras, no microphones, no tracking.

Contact

Let's bring BenchPad to your street.

Municipalities, partners, investors and press — we'd love to hear from you.

[email protected]

BenchPad news, a few times a year