What Are the 14 Winning Projects at the Interactive Signage Contest?
Hey makers,
What a ride it has been! From March 25 to August 31, our Interactive Signage Contest lit up the summer with creativity, experiments, and so much passion from the community.
We’re beyond excited to share that the contest brought together 180 makers from 17 countries, resulting in 156 incredible submissions, each one showing a unique way of bringing signs to life with sound, light, motion, and more.
Now, after months of making, voting, and judging, it’s time to celebrate the 14 winning projects.
Let’s dive in and meet the makers who turned ideas into interactive experiences! 🎉
1. Smart Signage Sentient by Rahul Jeyaraj - First Prize
Smart Signage Sentient is a portable, intelligent safety signage system built as an ESPHome external component, making it effortless to integrate with Home Assistant for monitoring, automation, and customization.
Powered by the Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32S3 Sense and the Seeed Studio 24 GHz mmWave Sensor for XIAO, it detects people approaching hazardous areas and reacts instantly with vivid LED effects and clear voice alerts.
2. NOVA - An AI assistant for Optical Store by Jaiswal Shubh Shyamlal - Second Prize
Nova is an interactive AI-powered eyewear kiosk that lets you virtually try on dozens of glasses styles in seconds. See how each pair looks on your face, find your perfect fit, and buy instantly – no guesswork, no waiting.
3. Fauna-Flash by Madhav K Anil - Second Prize
Fauna-Flash is a reactive signpost that alerts drivers about animal crossings, such as elephants, buffaloes, and kangaroos, using active data from sensors. The system employs a Tiny-ML model on the Grove Vision AI V2, paired with an XIAO ESP32-S3 for animal detection. Another XIAO ESP32-S3 is used for communication and matrix control, providing real-time alerts on upcoming animal crossings.
4. DEX - An Interactive AI Kiosk for Restaurants by Dev Bhavsar - Third Prize
DEX is an interactive, multilingual AI-powered kiosk that enhances food ordering in public spaces. Using the XIAO ESP32S3 Sense and MaTouch ESP32-S3 display, it enables voice-based interactions, smart food recommendations, and audio feedback through OpenAI APIs. Whether browsing by touch or speaking your preferences, DEX assists users in making better food choices—breaking language barriers and improving accessibility.
5. Smart City Maps by Jon García - Third Prize
The Smart City Map project uses Seeed Studio’s 7-color e-paper display to showcase any city with live traffic, weather, and local time updates. This energy-efficient display brings cities to life, showing real-time changes in traffic, weather, and more, with beautifully rendered maps enriched by interactive, real-world data.
6. EleTect 1.5 : Smarter Warnings, Safer Journeys by Amritha M & Abhinav krishna N - Third Prize
EleTect 1.5 is a solar-powered, AI-enabled signage system designed to prevent human-elephant collisions. Using Seeed Studio’s XIAO ESP32S3, Grove Vision AI V2, and LoRa, the system detects elephants with a TinyML-powered camera and alerts drivers 500m before known crossings.
The signage flashes a bright red LED when elephants are detected, with vehicle detection to avoid false alarms and conserve energy. By combining traditional knowledge and modern AI, EleTect 1.5 provides timely, location-specific warnings, helping to protect both humans and elephants.
7. Open Kiosk by Mukesh Sankhla - Enthusiastic Prize
Open Kiosk by Mukesh Sankhla is an open-source DIY POS system designed for small businesses and vendors. Built with the LattePanda MU, XIAO ESP32 S3, and a 58mm thermal printer, it offers an affordable, customizable, and reliable solution in a compact, 3D-printed enclosure.
Honkout takes a simple yet effective approach to addressing noise pollution. By making impatient honkers wait longer, it encourages patience, reduces unnecessary horn use, and contributes to a calmer, quieter city.
If implemented citywide, even a small change in honking behavior could lead to big improvements in quality of life. The project is came to life using the Seeed XIAO ESP32S3 sense in the heart of honkout.
9. Velichapaad - Interactive Light Painting Machine by Ashish Joy - Enthusiastic Prize
This Interactive Light Painting Signage CNC transforms hand-drawn sketches into light paintings using a CoreXY motion system. At its heart are two Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32-C6 modules, leveraging ESP-NOW for ultra-reliable, low-latency wireless communication. One XIAO communicates with the ESP32 CNC controller, while the other powers a wireless WS2812B LED end effector, eliminating cable drag and enabling fluid, precise motion.
10. Drone Based Air Quality Signage Map by Dr. Mohammad Salah Uddin - Enthusiastic Prize
The Drone-Based Air Quality Signage Map uses a DJI drone equipped with a Seeed Air Quality sensor to measure and visualize air quality in real time. Data is transmitted via a Seeed Studio LinkIt ONE board, uploaded to a cloud server, and displayed on an interactive web map. This system provides a fast, mobile solution for monitoring air quality over large or hard-to-reach areas, promoting public awareness and supporting environmental monitoring efforts.
11. GreenGo: AI-Powered Traffic Light Detection for Real-Time Signage by Jerom Palimattom Tom - Enthusiastic Prize
GreenGo is an ADAS on a vehicle’s dashboard that turns it into an interactive safety sign by detecting traffic light colors in real time and alerting the user when the signal changes before the honking from the cars behind starts.
Using the Seeed Grove Vision AI v2 for on-device color recognition and the Seeed XIAO ESP32S3 to process results, it instantly displays clear visual alerts on an OLED screen—helping all drivers, including those with color vision deficiencies, react faster.
12. ThingyChat - An Open-Source Interactive Signage Platform by Carlos Oliveira - Enthusiastic Prize
ThingyChat is an open-source platform that enables makers to create interactive signage, powered by a Seeed XIAO ESP32-S3 and Arduino Uno R4. It includes three key projects: an Emoji Display on a 16×16 LED matrix, an interactive Memento Mori sign showing life statistics, and a Geiger Counter that monitors radiation levels with real-time CPM data.
13. Game-Powered Ads Interactive Digital Signage by Kota Iijima - Enthusiastic Prize
This project is a unique 4-button Human Interface Device (HID) controller using the XIAO ESP32C6.The idea is turn static digital signage, especially in busy spots like shopping malls, into interactive gaming platforms. This could take advertising engagement to a whole new level. In this video, we shows the gameplay experience on a home monitor as a simulation.
14. Candy Throwing Robot Arm by Tyler Gruhn - Enthusiastic Prize
Candy Throwing Robot integrates XIAO ESP32 for controlling the robotic arm and servo motors for precise movements. Using Seeed’s hardware, this system is programmed to throw candies at a target, demonstrating basic robotics and automation. The XIAO ESP32 handles the control signals, making the project a great example of how Seeed’s products can be used for interactive and educational robotics applications.
✨ Last but not least, all the winning projects will be showcased in a special exhibition at Maker Faire Shenzhen 2025. We can’t wait to see these ideas come alive in front of an even bigger audience!
And this is just the beginning. Since this was our very first edition, we’re already gearing up for the second Interactive Signage Contest next year. Stay tuned—it’s going to be even more exciting!
A huge thank you to all the judges, partners, supporters, and, of course, every maker who joined us on this journey. Your creativity and passion made this contest truly unforgettable. 💚
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