(PCM) Recently, car manufacturer Smart conducted an experiment at a busy intersection in Lisbon, Portugal that incorporated the use of an interactive dancing traffic light to keep pedestrians entertained until it was safe for them to cross the road.
The interactive “red man” traffic light dances and keeps pedestrians eyes and attention focused until it flashes to the “green man” indicating it is now safe to walk. For purposes of the experiment, an actual human being was used to create the movements of the figure, showcasing a low-res projection of people dancing in a nearby booth.
In the booth, people were able to choose some music and then then booth was timed to when the traffic began moving. Once that happened the music would begin to play and the individual in the booth was told to start dancing. A video feed of the person’s dancing was then fed in real-time to the pedestrian cross walk lights, hence the appearance of the dancing “red man” indicating pedestrians should wait.
Thus far the experiment appears to have been a success as individuals at the intersection were observed to be laughing and dancing along with the Dancing Traffic Light instead of attempting to jay walk or break any traffic safety laws. The results showed that 81% of the pedestrians actually waited for the light to turn green.
The video below shows the Dancing Traffic Light in action and has already racked up over 2 million views on YouTube.
