Traffic Light Installation Lets You Play Pong with Pedestrians on the Other Side of the Street
For New Yorkers addicted to their smart phones, standing still at traffic lights must be quite painful (unless they’re texting of course), but a fun new invention would help pass those 13 seconds in no time.
Known as the ActiWait project, this street light installation allows pedestrians on either side of a street to play pong (or “street pong,” if you will) with each other while waiting to cross. There are currently two sets of the touch-screen devices installed in Hildesheim, Germany, so it shouldn’t be long before New Yorkers are running late to work due to an intense game of pong on Park Avenue.
STREETPONG from HAWK Hildesheim on Vimeo
HAWK University design students Sandro Engel, Holger Michel, and Amelie Künzler thought it would be fun to replace the boring old street crossing buttons with an interactive game. They debuted their concept with a video in 2012, and after five million people watched and shared it, they worked with traffic experts and fabricators to make their device a realty. The bright yellow prototype is 3D printed and fully equipped, but the design team is seeking funding through IndieGoGo to develop hardware and software and a professionally-produced case. They also hope to equip the devices with Wi-Fi to provide news feeds, navigation, traffic education, other games in addition to pong, and even speed dating.
How do you think ActiWait would fare on the busy streets of New York?
[Via Web Urbanist]
