12 UBI HotSpots have been installed to the city centre of Oulu, Finland, and they provide an opportunity to a new and unique way to interact in urban environments. The most visible part of the UBI HotSpot is the large public interactive UBI display. The HotSpot is 2 meters high and 1.5 meters wide and it contains, for example, a 57 inch touch screen display and access points for three different wireless networks. The functionality of the UBI displays will be finalized over the first two weeks of June. Simultaneously, the large-scale UBI Pilot 2009 field test is launched which will last until the end of August. This first installation of the open ubiquitous Oulu was built in cooperation of the UBI (UrBan Interactions) Program, coordinated by the University of Oulu, and the City of Oulu. It was released on June 2nd 2009 in the 1st Open Ubiquitous Oulu Seminar at Cultural House Valve.

UBI HotSpots are based on a novel kind of infrastructure which consists of large public UBI displays and different types of wireless information networks. In the first phase, altogether 12 UBI HotSpots are being installed. Six displays will be installed to the public spaces of the City of Oulu, and the other six will be installed to different parts of the pedestrian street Rotuaari and the market area. There are one or two 57 inch LCD panels with a touch screen display in each UBI HotSpot and each panel has a controlling computer, hard drive, loudspeaker, cameras and an NCF/RFID reader. The HotSpots also include access points for panOULU WLAN, panOULU BT (Bluetooth) and panOULU WSN (Wireless Sensor Network) networks. Separate panOULU BT and panOULU WSN access points will be installed to different parts of the city centre during this summer and autumn.