The Dancing Traffic Light [video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB_0vRnkeOk

by lisper • 12 years ago

48 23 12 years ago

youtube.com

donut• 12 years ago

Love the idea. I wonder if it makes people dance on the edge of the of the sidewalk!

What would happen if two people went into the box?

sean_grant2• 12 years ago

Really cool. I wish the team behind this would publish an article on the making of. I'd love to know how they built this. Especially for legality and such? I doubt government would go "yeah sure, replace the safety signs designed to keep people safe with your project". Does anyone have any ideas on how they did this?

infinitone• 12 years ago

I think this was just an ad campaign at that traffic light and not actually going to be implemented everywhere in the city.

As far as how they built it, seems like basic computer vision.

lstamour• 12 years ago

If you really wanted to simplify it, just use a Kinect. :)

diversewhat• 12 years ago

Not exactly an article, but here's a brief video from them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4ZrOn8y-XE

sean_grant2• 12 years ago

This is great, thanks!

JoshTriplett• 12 years ago

Reminds me of the musical staircase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw

frenchman_in_ny• 12 years ago

Volkswagen actually did a bunch through Fun Theory.

http://www.thefuntheory.com/

bhartzer• 12 years ago

Love be the idea, even if it could be recorded and music played so peds could hear it.

gsiener• 12 years ago

I suspect that if this were to become a real thing, the novelty would wear off and people would return to their old habits, right?

joshuaheard• 12 years ago

That's the beauty of the live feed, it never repeats.

brink• 12 years ago

It's not the unique dance moves that hold the novelty, it's that it's moving at all. And that doesn't change.

Why do you think people never stop to watch a TV in a window? It's because it's not the first TV they've seen and the feed rarely repeats there too.

chuuke• 12 years ago

Agreed, the 5-minute "squirrel!!!" attention span mindset of collective society would render these a poor use of funding in about....say 5 minutes

jeangenie3• 12 years ago

As somewhat of a casual expert on jaywalking I can report that one of the chief issues that this does not solve is that inattention and carelessness--not lack of slavish obedience to lights--are primary sources of danger in urban street crossing scenarios. Keep your head on a swivel.

dec0dedab0de2• 12 years ago

I always say watch the cars, not the lights.

Throwaway12928• 12 years ago

That makes me wonder if the dancing light creates more risk. What happened when the light turned green in the video? I know what I did, I carefully started watching the green man, waiting to see if he would also dance, or do something cool. Do you really want people crossing the street, being less likely to look both ways because they're busy watching to see if the light does something fun? If a car runs a red, I feel like more people would be caught off guard with this light.

DAddYE• 12 years ago

I think this is cool, I mean probably once used people will still cross on red lights however even if can save 2% of them is worth a try (especially for tourists). Last, I think this can have a nice effects of kids and the next gens.

danellis• 12 years ago

I think it's cool because people are dancing and smiling and having fun, even interacting with each other a little more. If it increases safety, that's just a bonus.

colinshark• 12 years ago

Will this era be known for a glut of optimistic but worthless technologies?

mcphage• 12 years ago

Isn't every era?

The Dancing Traffic Light [video]

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