Sometimes, being impatient could be the cause of something bad to happen. Like for instance, in today’s busy world where people are always on the go and are on the rush to go to each destinations. Sadly, pedestrian lanes could be the most dangerous place for those people who cannot stand, wait and do nothing for 30-90 seconds just to cross the street. But, Smart company in Lisbon, Portugal came up with a brilliant idea on how to make people wait rather than walk through the red light. “Nobody like to wait. That makes traffic lights the most dangerous spots for pedestrians in the city. But what if we made waiting more entertaining?”
After the company’s introduction, they’ve presented what they called “The Dancing Traffic Light” that shows a dancing red man in a black traffic light box instead of the red man standing stagnant.
The video shows how the traffic light caught the attention of people in the sidewalks. They’ve became amazed of the dancing red man in the traffic light.
Then, Smart presented how this dancing traffic light worked. They’ve set-up a black mini-theatre called The Dance Box in a park not too far away from the intersection where the motion of the dancing traffic light came from volunteer dancers who went into the box and groove into the music. The movements of those volunteer dancers where captured using cameras put inside.
“Each dance was brought to the traffic light in real time.”
Instead of dangerously crossing the street during red light, the people watch and dance along in amusement of the traffic light.
And the result is “81 percent more people stopped at the red light. And they even had fun doing so.”
This amazing and smart idea for a safe and better place for pedestrians has gone viral with over 5 million hits. One comment on the video says “This application of game mechanics improves pedestrian safety while also entertaining those at the intersections. Behavior can be changed by making everyday "tasks" fun and engaging.”
Let’s all remember that traffic lights are not for ornamentations in streets, it is placed there to give safety to everyone. Always obey rules.
