cockpitOS – Text for Press Release
Purpose: This document contains all text variants for press releases as well as a complete system description for team distribution.
Brief Overview: Also see the Platform Overview — conceptually and technically, in German and English.
Note: Part 2 is intentionally detailed – for someone who is not yet familiar with the system.
Part 1: Short Variants (for Inclusion in Press Release)
Variant A – General, Understandable
Behind this is cockpitOS – not a simple CMS solution, but an integrated platform that consolidates all center data. The big difference: Content entered once is automatically published on the website, NOW web app, digital signage, and QR codes – without duplicate maintenance. The assistant is not a standard chatbot, but a context-aware service: It uses real-time data about shops, events, and offers, can be used for wayfinding, and guides visitors through the center.
Variant B – With Technical USPs
Behind this is cockpitOS – not a simple CMS solution, but an integrated platform with clear unique selling points: Once maintained, used everywhere – content is automatically synchronized across the website, NOW web app, digital signage, and QR codes. Additionally integrated wayfinding – the assistant can lead visitors directly to the desired shop. It is not a standard chatbot, but a context-aware service with access to real center data: Shops, events, offers, and opening hours in real time.
Variant C – With AI/Single-Source-of-Truth Focus
Behind this is cockpitOS – not a simple CMS solution, but an integrated platform that consolidates all center data in one place. This is especially valuable in the age of AI: Content entered once is automatically published on the website, NOW web app, digital signage, and QR codes – and serves as a single source of truth for the assistant. It uses real center data instead of scattered sources and can guide visitors through the center – with shops, events, offers, and wayfinding in real time.
Variant D – Compact
cockpitOS centrally consolidates all center data – a single source of truth for the website, NOW web app, signage, QR codes, and the assistant. Enter content once, use it everywhere. The assistant guides visitors with shops, events, and wayfinding in real time.
Part 2: Complete System Description (Detailed)
For colleagues who are not yet familiar with the system.
2.1 What is cockpitOS? – Introduction
cockpitOS is the operating system for shopping centers. You can think of it as a central control station: A platform where all data of one (or several) properties is stored and managed – and that automatically distributes this data to all relevant touchpoints.
The problem that cockpitOS solves: Shopping centers have many channels: a website, displays in the center, QR codes, possibly an app, an existing WordPress site. Until now, it often required maintaining each channel separately – entering the same shops, events, and opening hours multiple times. This leads to errors, inconsistencies, and high effort.
The solution: Maintain once, use everywhere. cockpitOS centrally consolidates all data. What is entered in the dashboard is automatically displayed on the website, the displays, in the NOW web app, and – via a plugin – in WordPress. No duplicate maintenance, no outdated information.
cockpitOS is more than just a CMS. It includes:
- Content management (shops, events, news, offers, etc.)
- Digital signage (management of displays and kiosks)
- Mobile apps for visitors (NOW web app) and staff (center manager)
- AI assistants for visitors and management
- Property management (tenants, issues, maintenance)
- Marketing, analytics, feedback, and other modules
2.2 Core Principle: Single Source of Truth
“Single Source of Truth” means: There is one central data source. All other systems draw their data from there.
The dashboard is this central source. Here, shops, events, opening hours, offers, news, wayfinding data, and much more are managed. All apps (website, signage, NOW web app, center manager) and the WordPress plugin read from the dashboard – they do not store their own copies. This guarantees: The same current information appears everywhere.
Advantage: If, for example, the opening hours of a shop change, it is only adjusted once in the dashboard – and is immediately up to date on the website, the kiosk, and in the NOW web app.
2.3 The Apps & Channels in Detail
Center Website
The central website of the shopping center – e.g., under its own domain such as www.palais-vest.de or as a subdomain. It includes:
- Homepage with hero, opening hours, quick links
- Shops – overview of all stores with categories, detail pages, contact, opening hours
- Dining – restaurants, cafés, snack bars
- Services – restrooms, info, elevators, etc.
- Offices & Practices – doctors, pharmacies, health service providers
- Current Events – news, events, offers, jobs
- Parking & Directions – parking information, directions
- Wayfinding – interactive center map with route calculation
- AI Assistant – chat where visitors can ask questions (“Where is H&M?”, “Which restaurants are open now?”)
Multi-Tenant: One system can manage multiple centers. Each center has its own website (e.g., via its own domain or subdomain) with the same functions, but its own data.
NOW Web App (“Visitor App via QR Code”)
The NOW web app is a mobile web app that visitors open by scanning a QR code – e.g., at the parking lot, entrance, or at a display. It offers:
- “What’s happening today?” – overview of events, offers, hot picks
- Save parking spot – visitors remember where they parked
- Shops – directory of all stores
- Services – restrooms, info, etc.
- Events & Promotions – current events
- Center Plan / Wayfinding – interactive map, routes to desired shops
- Feedback – visitors can give feedback on restrooms or services
- Contact – center contact persons
- AI assistant – same functionality as on the website
Special Feature: No app download required. The QR code directly leads to the web app – works on any smartphone with a browser.
Digital Signage (Kiosk, Touchscreen, Displays)
Digital signage controls the displays in the center – e.g., touchscreen kiosks at the entrance or pure display screens. There are various modes:
- Kiosk Mode – visitors can tap, navigate through shops, events, wayfinding
- Display Mode – pure playback (e.g., offers, events in a loop)
- Wayfinding – interactive center map on a large touchscreen
Contents: Shops, center plan, current events (news, events, offers), partially social media feeds. Everything comes from the dashboard – content creators do not have to maintain anything separately for the displays.
Emergency Override: In emergencies, a central message can be displayed on all screens (e.g., “Please leave the building”).
Center Manager App
A mobile app for center staff (e.g., center management, facilities). It enables:
- Report issues – e.g., faulty lighting, document cleaning with photos, and forward to maintenance
- Capture content on site – create news, events directly on the smartphone
- Communication with tenants – direct contact
- View feedback – what visitors report
- AI Assistant – e.g., “Show open issues” or “Create draft for summer festival”; the assistant can perform actions (create draft, generate ticket)
Goal: Everything essential for daily operations in the center is available on the go – without returning to the desk.
WordPress Plugin
Many centers have existing WordPress websites. The cockpitOS plugin connects these to the dashboard:
- Shops, events, offers, news, jobs are synchronized from cockpitOS
- No duplicate maintenance – content editing occurs in the dashboard
- Elementor widgets for shops, events, hot picks, center map, etc.
- Content areas for static texts (About Us, Contact, etc.)
Advantage: Centers can retain their familiar WordPress structure and still use cockpitOS as a central data source.
2.4 Content & Data – What is Managed?
Mall Cockpit (Content Area)
| Content | Description |
|---|---|
| Shopping Center | Center management – name, slug, domain, branding, theme, opening hours |
| Shops | Retail with name, logo, category, opening hours, contact, description |
| Shop Chains | Chains with multiple branches in the center |
| Shop Locations | Individual branches within shop chains – assignable per center |
| Categories | Shop categories (e.g., fashion, dining) – hierarchical, with icons and cover images |
| Events | Events with date, location, description, image |
| News | Announcements, blog articles |
| Offers | Promotions, discounts, deals – often linked to shops |
| Jobs | Job postings – e.g., from tenants |
| Services | Restrooms, info point, elevator, cloakroom, etc. – with quick setup |
| Offices & Practices | Doctors, pharmacies, health service providers |
| Hot Picks | Specially highlighted offers – e.g., for displays, NOW web app |
| Website Pages | CMS pages for center website – About Us, Contact, etc. with page builder |
| Media | Images, videos, documents – central media management |
| Workflow & Approvals | Create drafts, submit for approval – for tenant content |
Property Management
| Area | Description |
|---|---|
| Tenants | Management of leaseholders, contacts, lease agreements |
| Spaces | Space management, rental area, room layout |
| Maintenance | Facility maintenance, upkeep |
| Issues & Tickets | Reports (e.g., faulty lamp) with status, comments, assignments |
| Security | Access control, surveillance |
| Automation | Smart building, IoT control, building technology |
| Real Estate | Property data, owner |
| Parking | Parking management |
Marketing & Community
| Area | Description |
|---|---|
| Campaigns | Planning marketing campaigns |
| Calendar | Scheduling for events, campaigns |
| Feedback | Visitor feedback from NOW web app/website – evaluation in the dashboard |
| Broadcast Messages | Announcements to tenants or employees |
| Community Management | Community management, user engagement |
| Chatbot | Visitor chatbot analytics, mention tracking |
Dashboard Modules – Overview
cockpitOS is modular. Modules can be activated/deactivated per organization. Central areas include:
| Module | Contains |
|---|---|
| Mall Cockpit | Content management, shops, events, news, offers, workflow, marketing, campaigns, calendar |
| Property Cockpit | Tenants, spaces, maintenance, issues, security, parking, personnel |
| Finance Cockpit | Budget, revenues, operating costs, analysis, ESG |
| Digital Experience | Digital signage, NOW web app, center plans, QR management, emergency override, hardware, WordPress, wayfinding |
| Marketing Cockpit | Campaigns, calendar (dependent on Mall Cockpit) |
| Community Cockpit | Community, feedback, broadcast messages, team management, chatbot, ratings |
| Analytics Cockpit | Analytics overview, visitor flows (footfall), ratings, performance |
| Center Manager App | Mobile app for employees – issues, capture, content, drafts, communication, reports, AI assistant |
| Organization & Center | Organizations, themes, center settings |
| Personnel Management | Team, attendance, shift scheduling |
| AI & Automation | AI assistant, AI actions, vector-sync |
| WordPress Integration | Plugin, themes, content areas, templates, widgets, sync |
| System & Integration | Settings, modules, users, RSS feeds, integration, webhooks, notifications |
| Communication | Broadcast messages, issues (core) |
Module Management: Under Settings → Modules, super admins can activate or deactivate modules per organization. Roles determine which modules a user sees.
2.5 Wayfinding
Wayfinding means: Visitors can select a shop on an interactive map and receive a route from the entrance (or their current location) to it.
Technically:
- Center plans are uploaded as SVG files per floor
- Shops and services are located on the plan (“MapLocations”)
- Route calculation considers floors, elevators, escalators
- Entrance selection – visitors choose from which entrance they start
Available in: Website, digital signage (kiosk), NOW web app. The same data, the same logic everywhere.
2.6 AI & Assistants (Detailed)
cockpitOS has three AI components that serve different target audiences and purposes. What they have in common: They use the central center data – no generic answers, but concrete information from the dashboard.
A) Visitor Assistant (for Visitors)
Built into: Website, digital signage (kiosk), NOW web app.
Typical questions:
- “Where is H&M?”
- “Which restaurants are open now?”
- “Are there events today?”
- “Guide me to dm”
How does it work?
- The assistant has access to Visitor Context – only visitor-relevant data: Shops, dining, services, events, news, offers, opening hours, wayfinding.
- Optionally, the request is evaluated through AI-Intent-Analysis (“What is it about? Shops? Events?”) so that only relevant data is loaded – faster and more precise.
- If necessary, semantic search (Vector/Pinecone) is used – similar questions are recognized, appropriate answers from the knowledge base are provided.
- The answer can include interactive elements: e.g., “Find H&M” → Button opens wayfinding with the route to the shop.
Technical Features:
- Context Budget: Only as much context is loaded as necessary (e.g., character limit) – efficient for large centers.
- Speech Recognition: Optional – visitors can speak through the microphone instead of typing.
- GDPR Compliance: User questions are anonymized (phone, email, names are removed) before being saved/tracked.
- Feedback: “Was the answer helpful?” (Thumbs up/down) – evaluation in the dashboard.
Difference from Standard Chatbots: No generic FAQ. It uses real, current data – if a shop is closed today, the assistant knows that. If an event is canceled, it knows that too.
B) Manager Assistant (for Staff)
Built into: Dashboard, center manager app.
Typical questions:
- “Show open issues”
- “What was the last feedback?”
- “Create a draft for a summer festival”
- “Create a ticket for faulty lighting on the ground floor”
How does it work?
- Manager Context – access to all internal data: Feedback, issues, drafts, shops, events, contacts, etc.
- AI Intent Analysis – classifies the request: Which entity types (events, issues, feedback)? Which filters? Should an action be performed?
- Executing Actions: The assistant can not only answer but also take action:
create_draft– create content draft (news, event, offer)create_ticket– create facility issueshow_dashboard– guide user to the appropriate dashboard area
Process: User asks → AI analyzes intent → context is loaded → LLM responds → optionally: Button “Create draft” appears → click → API executes action → real ticket/draft is created.
Technology: Central APIs analyze-intent, manager-assistant, actions/execute. Center manager calls dashboard APIs as a proxy.
C) Content Loader (AI for Content Creation)
Target Audience: Tenants, agencies, content creators – without technical knowledge.
Principle: Natural language → structured content.
Example: “Create offer 20% discount on winter jackets from tomorrow until the end of the week”
→ System recognizes: Type = offer, discount = 20%, product = winter jackets, period = tomorrow until the end of the week
→ Generates correct content with all fields.
Functions:
- Intelligent Recognition: System automatically recognizes the type of content (offer, event, news).
- Workflow: Depending on permissions, content can be published directly or submitted for approval.
- Multi-User: Different roles (tenant, content creator, admin) with varying rights.
- Approval System: Approval process for all content.
Benefit: Content creation in seconds instead of minutes – 90% less time, fewer typos, consistent formatting.
D) Chatbot Analytics & Mention Tracking
What is recorded:
- What questions visitors ask (anonymized)
- Which shops/restaurants/services the bot recommends
- Which answers are marked as helpful
- Feedback from the chat (criticism/praise) – AI-classified
Purpose: Center managers see what visitors are interested in, what the bot recommends, and where gaps are (“People are asking about X, but there is no X in the center”).
2.7 Other Modules (Detailed)
Analytics
What is recorded?
- Website: Page views, clicks, navigation (Umami, optionally Matomo/Google Analytics)
- To-Go: QR scans, landings per QR code
- NOW Web App: QR scans, journey (Parking lot → Center Overview → Feedback → Wayfinding)
- Chatbot: Questions, answers, helpful/not helpful
Dashboard Areas:
- Analytics Overview – Visits, conversion, bounce rate
- Analytics Dashboard – detailed charts
- Visitor Flows (Footfall) – visitor numbers, trends (optionally with external footfall API)
- Ratings – review analysis, AI-supported recommendations
Pro Center: Own Umami website ID, analytics provider selectable (Umami, Matomo, Google).
Finance Cockpit
- Budget – overview, planning
- Revenues – sales figures, sales reporting
- Operating Costs – cost management
- Analysis – financial analyses
- ESG – sustainability reporting
Goal: Finance reporting for center management and organization.
Personnel & Team (Staff Management)
- Team Management – employee management, roles
- Attendance – check-in, attendance
- Personnel Overview – who is on site, shift planning
Purpose: Who is on site? Who is responsible for which tasks?
Digital Experience (Signage, App, Hardware)
- Digital Signage – kiosk and display configuration, touchscreens
- NOW Web App – companion configuration, features, QR codes, sessions
- Center Plans – SVG upload, floors, wayfinding mapping
- QR Management – create QR codes, To-Go, parking, feedback, wayfinding
- Emergency Override – emergency messages on all displays
- Hardware – hardware management for displays
- Templates – website and kiosk templates (e.g., via v0), upload, status
Center Manager App (mobile app for staff)
- Dashboard – overview
- AI Assistant – manager assistant mobile
- Capture – capture content on-site
- Content – create/edit content
- Drafts – approval workflow
- Communication – tenant contact
- Issues – create reports, status
- Notifications
- Reports – reports
- Sales – revenue data
- Admin – management
- Onboarding – setup per center
WordPress Integration
- Websites – connected WordPress instances
- Content Areas – static content (About Us, Contact, etc.) for Dynamic Tags
- Templates – sidebar templates
- Widgets – Elementor widgets
- Themes – theme management
- Sync – real-time synchronization
AI & Automation
- AI Assistant – central AI assistant in the dashboard
- AI Actions – automatic actions and workflows
- Vector Sync – AI database synchronization for semantic search
System & Integration
- Settings – general, modules, users, roles, security, data protection
- Modules – module management (activate/deactivate per organization)
- RSS Feeds – integrate external feeds
- Integration – webhooks, API keys, external systems
- Notifications – notification center
Content Scheduling
Time-controlled content – when does what appear where?
Schedule Types:
- Date-Range – fixed start/end date (e.g., “Christmas promotion Dec 1–24”)
- Seasonal – seasonal (e.g., spring: March–May)
- Recurring – recurring (daily, weekly, monthly)
- Event-based – triggered by events (e.g., center opening, holidays)
- Time-based – time of day (e.g., only in the morning 8–12)
Content Types: News, event, offer, video, page, shop, service
Priorities: urgent, high, medium, low, fallback – in case of overlap: higher priority wins.
Conflict Detection: The system warns of overlapping times or priority conflicts.
Emergency Override
Purpose: Emergency messages on all digital signage displays.
Process: In the dashboard, an emergency message is created and activated → all kiosks/displays immediately show the message (e.g., “Please leave the building”).
API: Displays can query emergency status; when active override is on, normal display is replaced.
QR Management
QR codes can be placed at various locations – e.g.:
- To-Go – leads to a special landing page with exclusive info “to go”
- Parking – NOW web app opens, parking spot is saved
- Center Overview – “What’s happening today?”
- Feedback – e.g., restroom feedback
- Wayfinding – path to a shop
Tracking:
- Database:
QRCodeScan– each scan is counted per QR code - Umami: Events like
To-Go Landing,companion_qr_scan,companion_journey
Dashboard: List of QR codes, individual QR detail with “Recent Activities” (scans, feedback, rating per day).
Integration & Webhooks
Webhooks: When changes occur (shop, event, news, etc.), external systems can be notified – e.g., WordPress for real-time sync.
Entity Types: service, shop, event, news, offer, job, center, center plan, office
Actions: create, update, delete, archive, restore
Webhook Management: Create URLs, select events, secret for authentication, logs.
Other Integration: e.g., Google Places API for address and place data.
Organizations & Multi-Tenant
Organizations can manage multiple centers – e.g., an operating company with several properties.
Pro Center: Own configuration, own domain, own analytics, own user assignment.
Roles: SUPER_ADMIN, CENTER_MANAGER, CONTENT_EDITOR, FACILITY_MANAGER, MARKETING_MANAGER, etc. – controllable per module.
2.8 Technology (Detailed)
Architecture: Dashboard as the Heart
Principle: Only the dashboard has a direct database connection. All other apps (center website, digital signage, center manager) are pure frontend clients – they retrieve data exclusively through APIs from the dashboard.
Advantages:
- One data source – no data inconsistencies between apps
- Central security – one authentication system (NextAuth)
- Scalability – apps can be deployed independently (e.g., website on Render, dashboard on Vercel)
Database: PostgreSQL with Prisma ORM. Schema with over 80 models (ShoppingCenter, Shop, Event, Feedback, etc.).
API Structure
Typical API Routes:
/api/centers– list of centers, center config/api/centers/[centerId]/shops– shops per center/api/centers/[centerId]/events– events/api/feedback– send feedback/api/wayfinding/centerplan– wayfinding data/api/ai/analyze-intent– AI intent analysis/api/ai/actions/execute– execute action/api/qr-codes/[id]/track– track QR scan
Apps access: Dashboard URL as base (e.g., https://dashboard.cockpit-os.de) + API path.
Multi-Tenant
One system, multiple centers. Each center has:
- Slug – e.g.,
palais-vestfor URL/[slug]/… - Optional: Custom Domain – e.g.,
www.palais-vest.de→ displays the same center
Routing: Middleware recognizes subdomain or custom domain, identifies center, redirects to the corresponding route.
Pre-launch Page: Center can activate “Coming Soon” – only hero + headline visible, rest blocked. With ?preview=1 for developer bypass. With ?preview=0 or ?preview=reset displays the pre-launch page again (clears the preview cookie).
Shared Packages
Monorepo: Multiple apps and shared packages.
- @mall-os/ai-context – AI context (Visitor/Manager), intent analysis, slices
- @mall-os/wayfinding – 2D/3D wayfinding, SVG loader, routes
- @mall-os/analytics – Umami
- @mall-os/scheduling – schedule types, engines
- @mall-os/database – Prisma schema, client
- @mall-os/ui – shared UI components (shadcn/ui)
Deployment
- Dashboard: e.g., Vercel, Next.js
- Center Website: e.g., Render, Next.js
- Digital Signage: e.g., own subdomain
- Center Manager: e.g., subdomain
Umami: Own instance (e.g., analytics.cockpit-os.de) – GDPR compliant, self-hosted.
2.9 Summary for Press Release
cockpitOS is an integrated platform for shopping centers: content, tenants, events, and offers are maintained once and automatically appear on the website, NOW web app, digital signage, and QR codes. The AI assistant uses this data in real time and supports visitors with shop locations, events, opening hours, and wayfinding. The system also covers property management, marketing, feedback, and analytics.
Part 3: In the Context of the Press Release with Interra
Customizable templates – please insert Interra-specific details (center names, portfolio, etc.).
Introduction (Example)
[Interra / Name of Center] relies on cockpitOS as the central platform for [Center Name / Portfolio]. Behind this is …
Then incorporate one of the short variants from Part 1 (A–D).
Variant for Interra Announcement (Short)
[Interra] now utilizes cockpitOS – the integrated platform that consolidates all center data. Maintained once, available everywhere: the website, NOW web app, digital signage, and QR codes show the same shops, events, and offers. The AI assistant supports visitors with real-time data on opening hours, wayfinding, and current promotions – without duplicate maintenance and out-of-date information.
Complete Paragraph for Interra Press Release
cockpitOS is the operating system for shopping centers – an integrated platform that centrally consolidates all data of a property. [Interra] relies on this solution for [Center / Portfolio]. Content maintained once automatically appears on the website, in the NOW web app (via QR code), on digital signage, and through QR codes – without duplicate maintenance. The AI assistant utilizes shops, events, offers, and opening hours in real time and assists visitors with wayfinding. The system also encompasses property management, feedback, analytics, and marketing.
Extended Paragraph for Interra (with Context)
Shopping centers face the challenge of reaching visitors across many channels: website, displays in the center, QR codes, apps. Until now, this often meant duplicate maintenance and thus sources of error. [Interra] is taking a different path with cockpitOS: a central platform consolidates all center data – shops, events, offers, opening hours – and automatically publishes it on the website, NOW web app, digital signage, and QR codes. Maintain once, use everywhere. The integrated AI assistant uses the same real-time data and supports visitors with questions like “Where is H&M?”, “Which restaurants are open now?” or with wayfinding through the center. The system also covers property management, feedback evaluation, and analytics.
Part 4: Term Explanation (for Colleague)
| Term | Explanation |
|---|---|
| NOW Web App | Mobile web app that visitors open via QR code – no app download required. Shows “What’s happening today?”, parking, wayfinding, feedback. |
| Digital Signage | Displays in the center – kiosk (touchscreen) or pure display. Contents come from cockpitOS. |
| Single Source of Truth | A single central data source; all channels draw their data from it. No duplicate entries. |
| Wayfinding | Interactive navigation – visitors select a shop, receive a route to get there from the entrance. |
| Hot Picks | Particularly highlighted offers – e.g., for displays or homepage. |
| Multi-Tenant | One system manages many centers – each with its own data, its own website/domain. |
Status: February 2025
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