For its first project in the Baltics, ViaDirect headed toward Riga, Latvia’s rejuvenated capital, where it provided the brand new Akropole Shopping & Leisure Centre with its interactive wayfinding software – equipping 17 kiosks in both vertical (8) and horizontal formats (9)!

Specially developed for Akropole Riga, the user interface of ViaDirect’s wayfinding and information software as well as its 3D map perfectly adapt to both landscape and portrait modes. 

As such, end-users are guided throughout the software in the same logical and consistent way, regardless of the screen’s orientation, and can enjoy a coherent experience in terms of navigation and design.

To answer Akropole’s request, an additional digital signage software plug-in has been integrated into ViaDirect’s system. It allows for an advertising screen saver (video or slideshow) to automatically be displayed when no one interacts with the kiosk. As soon as a new customer touches the screen, ViaDirect’s software takes over and the screen switches back to its wayfinding interface.

The installation at Akropole Riga represents the first project carried out by ViaDirect in the Baltics as well as the first collaboration with Akropolis, the Lithuanian owner behind the center. This real-estate company, which already manages four other commercial properties in its home country Lithuania, has invested about 180 million euros in this project that also covers a new road and public transport infrastructures.

As the latest shopping and leisure attraction in the Latvian capital, Akropole Riga and its 97 000 m2 welcomed more than a million visitors in its first month of operations (grand opening in April 2019).

There, visitors can enjoy an Apollo IMAX cinema, a gym club, an ice-hockey and skating rink surrounded by restaurants and cafés with a beautiful view over the indoor skating rink, a business center, and more than 140 retail shops.

The mall and its surrounding 16 hectare-property are located in the vicinity of the Dienvidu bridge, which spans over the Daugava river, about 5 km South-East of downtown Riga.

Besides being the country’s capital, Riga also constitutes the largest metropolis in the Baltic States, with more than 640 000 inhabitants living in the city, and one million in the area.

Pictures of Akropole Riga courtesy: Akropolis

Akropole Riga’s dedicated version of ViaDirect software includes…

• Interactive 3D map of the shopping and leisure center 2 level
  
• Interactive search by name and alphabetical order for the center’s 220 destinations of interest: shops, restaurants, and other services
  
• Safe itinerary (stair and step-free) for people with reduced mobility (PRM)
  
• Local weather forecast
  
• User-interface in both Latvian and Russian languages
• English language interface
  
• Customized route and map sent directly to the visitor’s mobile phone
  
• Display of news, promotions, and events (to be updated by the center itself)
  
• Real-time surroundings car traffic information
  
• Real-time information and schedule about public transportations around the center