Wallraf points to his smart LED display installed in a restaurant in Malolos City. DB
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MALOLOS
CITY—How smart is the signage that you’re using now?
This
is the main question answered by a German national four months after the
onslaught of Typhoon Yolanda in Eastern Visayas where his family was trapped
last year.
Thomas
Wallraf, 50, a German national said current technologies involving Light
Emitting Diode (LED) is not as smart as many though it to be. However, he is
introducing a smarter technology that will improve the functionality of LED
signages.
It
is called the intelligent LED where information that is flashed on LED display
can be changed anytime remotely. “Even if I am in Davao City and the LED
display is here, I can change the message anytime,” he said noting that the LED
display he is now introducing is equipped with a GSM modem connected to a
cellular phone.
Wallraf
disclosed that he came up with the idea after the onslaught of Typhoon Yolanda
in Eastern Visayas last year. He said that it took him almost a week before
getting in touch with his family. “When I finally reached Tacloban City, I saw
disorder due to lack of proper information,” he said noting that people do not
know what to do.
He
said hundreds of military personnel spent a lot of time in trying to control
long queues and telling people what to do.
“They
could have saved time and effort if they have the intelligent LED technology at
that time,” he said adding that he personally asked his friends in Germany to
come up with a new software in the utilization of LED display.
Wallraf
said GS Electronics based in Leverkussen, Germany responded within months and
came up with the intelligent LED display. He said the LED technology has been
around for more than two decades, but it is usually connected to a computer or
a laptop.
“Now,
we don’t need a laptop computer to feed in messages on intelligent LED, we only
need a cellular phone,” he said. Aside from disaster hit areas, Wallraf said
his LED technology can be used to alert people days before disasters.
He
said it can be installed in front of churches, public markets and places
frequented by many people who can easily read the messages that are displayed.
He said the messages can be changed remotely as often as an operator want.
It
can also be installed along the highways or on board a pickup truck or any
large vehicle. The cost for Wallraf’s intelligent LED technology starts at
P55,000 per package that includes a meter long and 16 centimeters high display.
He
said any customer can order a larger display but it will cost more. Walraff
said their display can show 16 running characters at a time, and have a
capacity of 160 characters per message. Dino Balabo
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