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Streetpong [video]
- Cogito 13y agoThis is an 'urban interaction' installation, where two people waiting on opposite sides of a pedestrian crossing can play each other in a game of pong. Pretty cool :) I wonder what they are using for communicating between the two touch screens on each side of the road. It almost looks like the touch screens are large mobile phones.
- Ives 13y agoNothing at all. It's a concept created using VFX[1]. http://www.autoblog.com/2012/09/10/german-crosswalk-lets-opposing-pedestrians-play-pong/ http://www.autoblog.com/2012/09/10/german-crosswalk-lets-opp...
- shangxiao 13y agoI think I'm more impressed with the use VFX to demonstrate ideas than the pong game itself!
- deletes 13y agoThe fact that you eventually meet your opponent when the light goes green is awesome.
- nacs 13y agoWonder how many people will take the game far too seriously and start a fight in the middle of the road..
- deletes 13y agoThat is a horrible mentality. I don't see how the game has anything to do with it. If a person is capable of physically retaliating to a complete stranger over a game of pong, that person is mentally ill and has serious problem existing in society regardless.
- chrisrhoden 13y agoInteresting idea, saw this make the rounds a little bit ago. The installation in the video is not real, but because of the popularity of the video, they're currently working on a physical prototype.
- ultrafez 13y agoThis video is CGI - at the point it was filmed, it was just a concept, but it's had a positive reaction and so it's actually been installed. Source: translation of http://vimeo.com/48514003 http://vimeo.com/48514003
- tinkerdol 13y agoGermany has a whole different level of first-world problems: "Hmm what was my biggest annoyance today? ... I was bored while standing at the traffic lights" :)
- lis 13y agoYes, because we are actually stopping at them!
- fit2rule 13y agoLike .. right at this moment? You're doing that right now? (Hint: Here's how you say that sentence properly: "Yes, because we actually stop at them!" The way you constructed it - you're doing it at the moment, definitively ..)
- michaelmior 13y agoNot necessarily. I think the way the sentence was originally worded is also correct. It means in general, Germans are stopping at traffic lights on an ongoing basis. I don't think the immediacy on the part of the speaker. is a strict requirement.
- fit2rule 13y agoAre you describing something happening right now, posessively (i.e. right in front of you?) Then the sentence "they are stopping in front of the traffic lights" is correct. But are you describing a general activity, which you have observed, and which you do not currently possess, in front of you, at the moment? In which case referring to the definite possessive form "they are" is incorrect - who are 'they'? Are you observing this activity immediately? The correct way to say this sentence: "Germans stop at traffic lights." They're not doing it right now, they're not in front of you - its a general case. There is a reason to understand and use language properly. I happen to live in a German-speaking country, and this mistake is made often because it is, simply, not taught properly. (I also get my German corrected in the same way, and OFTEN, so lest you feel I'm being curmudgeonly for any reason other than revenge .. ;)
- Uchikoma 13y agoHmm, looks fake to me, the image/text is wobbling differently than the camera.
- RyanZAG 13y agoGood eye, I didn't notice at all. It is indeed fake and done with a green screen and post processing.
- PMan74 13y agoIf thy don't call this Ample/Ampel Time then this is not a world I want to live in. (Ampel being the German for traffic light)
- agumonkey 13y agoSimilar to queue theory in stores. Nice
- ansimionescu 13y agoSorry to be an asshat, but isn't this thing incredibly old? I'm getting a strong déjà vu feeling.
- saimey 13y agoThis is pretty awesome, I couldn't help but think of all those sorry people complaining about the germs on the screen itself. Great innovation.
- munkyeetr 13y agoNeat, I guess, but personally I think people should be more alert and aware when in and around traffic, not more distracted.
- tbirdz 13y agoThis looks a little dangerous to me, because it makes the pedestrian take their mind off the road. Just last week, a car accidentally drove up on the side walk part of the crosswalk and would have hit me had I not been paying attention and jumped out of the way. From what I understand this is not an uncommon event either. It's not like the lip of the curve is really any protection against the cars, a car can easily drive over it.
- shangxiao 13y agoIt's not really any different to someone checking Twitter or FB ;)
- aestra 13y agoYou also shouldn't be checking Twitter or FB at a friggin crosswalk! You should be paying attention to traffic. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/17/cell-phone-walking-injuries-rise/2824515/ http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/17/cell-ph...
- ygra 13y agoUsually I stand at a crosswalk and thus have little risk of walking off a bridge or into traffic. Also I see little point in always anticipating someone who drives into pedestrians. But if they do, I guess standing to the right of the traffic light gives me a slightly better chance of survival. And while it routinely happens that motorists will ignore pedestrians or cyclists at corners or that they drive over red lights, I have yet to see someone accidentally driving on the sidewalk at a traffic light, endangering pedestrians there.
- tbirdz 13y agoYou should be glad it didn't happen to you, but unfortunately it happens to other people all the time. http://news.ca.msn.com/local/montreal/pedestrian-killed-on-sidewalk-after-two-vehicles-collide http://news.ca.msn.com/local/montreal/pedestrian-killed-on-s... http://www.streetsblog.org/2013/11/11/three-killed-by-curb-jumping-drivers-on-east-harlem-and-elmhurst-sidewalks/ http://www.streetsblog.org/2013/11/11/three-killed-by-curb-j... http://www.myfoxny.com/story/19681198/car-drives-onto-sidewalk-killing-pedestrian http://www.myfoxny.com/story/19681198/car-drives-onto-sidewa... http://gothamist.com/2013/11/11/two_pedestrians_killed_after_speedi.php#photo-1 http://gothamist.com/2013/11/11/two_pedestrians_killed_after... http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20131226/san-bernardino-man-dies-after-car-veers-onto-sidewalk http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20131226/san-bernardino-ma... And these are just the first few links that show up on googling for "pedestrian killed on sidewalk" there are many, many, many more articles just like these.
- peg_leg 13y agoWe need video games at all street corners? Look up and view life!
- Bostwick 13y agoI like this concept - small, usable art installations designed to make inconspicuous things social. But the pessimist in me takes one look at their concept and things "That's going to break so quickly here in Boston." What I would love to see, and which seems realistic from this video, is an installation that shows the people waiting a "loading bar" or countdown or some visual indicator of how long until the crosswalk is green for pedestrians. In the video they show this as the background color - red or green - gradually draining from the screen.
- faboo 13y ago> That's going to break so quickly here in Boston. Depends on what you mean by "break". In Boston, you might just get, epic, hour-long pong battles. Seriously, the pedestrian signal situation in Boston is so haphazard you could hardly make it worse by introducing experiments like this.
- joezydeco 13y agoIt's not really pessimistic at all. It's realistic. Putting video screens at hand level in public is just begging for vandalism. Doesn't matter how much chemically treated glass you layer on top, it will get punched/kicked/keyed/stabbed. Repeatedly. Look at how bulletproof the simple microswitch behind the "Press For Walk Signal" needs to be.
- BHSPitMonkey 13y agoThere would be a large, nonremovable-without-chemicals-and-scrubbing sticker placed on the screen within a day.
- damon_c 13y agoPretty cool! What if winning the game granted your side a couple of seconds head start? I wonder if there would be little impromptu election committees formed on each side to nominate a representative for that side; "Step aside, I got this..." Or maybe there could be a more cooperative game where the collaborative success at some activity would make the light change sooner. That would be awesome!
- aestra 13y agoIs this life now? Nobody can wait a minute to cross the street without something to distract them with? Constant stimulation. I know this isn't real, but this isn't a neat idea. We need a bit of boring time in our lives.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- bleebloob 13y agohttps://0-media-cdn.foolz.us/ffuuka/board/a/image/1339/70/1339707239743.png https://0-media-cdn.foolz.us/ffuuka/board/a/image/1339/70/13...
- elmarschraml 13y agoOff-topic: Does anybody know why you have to wait for a pedestrian crossing light to turn green at all? If it's usually green for car traffic all the time, and only turns green for pedestrians on request, why not change immediately when somebody pushes the button?
- jerf 13y agoSome do. Lights do all sorts of different things, ranging from turning immediately (as long as they did not just turn) to fully ignoring your input and just letting you feel better by pounding the button, and all sorts of things in between.
- meichenf 13y agoThere is a lot of information available on this subject. So I’ll start with a link to the FHA’s Traffic Control Systems Handbook - http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop06006/chapter_7.htm http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop06006/chapte... The basic idea regarding vehicle and pedestrian movements is that the system can be entirely pretimed (interval control) or divided up into phases (phase control). The typical idea of operation is that any compatible phases should be able to run concurrently so long as there is time available. During Pedestrian Walk and Clearance time however these phases cannot be forced off or timed out. (Otherwise people could get hit by cars) This limits the amount of time the button can be pressed during a green light and still change the pedestrian signal.
- Dirlewanger 13y agoYeah, sure, it's cool, but take a step back and it's actually kind of sickening. All plays back to society needing constant stimulation of some kind. We can't just wait, or be bored, heaven forbid, anymore. Our phones aren't even enough now!
- NickPollard 13y agoWhy is it sickening? There is no virtue in being bored; no goal to be achieved by doing nothing. If I have time, I wish to do something useful with it, and entertainment is useful (if not, then life would be rather dull). There is a certain perverse nostalgia these days to times before smartphones, before the internet, before the telephone, before technology. Wasn't it great when you were stuck on train without a book, and just had to grin and bear it? Many would argue this builds character. I would argue it's luddite masochism.
- lectrick 13y agoI think the worry is that instead of "having" to initiate interaction with other humans for the non-boredom you're praising, everyone will just open their cellphone. The above solution at least allows 2 random people to interact while waiting, which counteracts the isolation tendency IMHO.
- kcovia 13y agoThe point is not to be bored, but to appreciate each and every moment for what it is, not merely as a vehicle to another more important moment. Thirty years ago, when I was still a novice at Tu Hieu Pagoda, washing the dishes was hardly a pleasant task. During the Season of Retreat when all the monks returned to the monastery, two novices had to do all the cooking and wash the dishes for sometimes well over one hundred monks. There was no soap. We had only ashes, rice husks, and coconut husks, and that was all. Cleaning such a high stack of bowls was a chore, especially during the winter when the water was freezing cold. Then you had to heat up a big pot of water before you could do any scrubbing. Nowadays one stands in a kitchen equipped with liquid soap, special scrubpads, and even running hot water which makes it all the more agreeable. It is easier to enjoy washing the dishes now. Anyone can wash them in a hurry, then sit down and enjoy a cup of tea afterwards. I can see a machine for washing clothes, although I wash my own things out by hand, but a dishwashing machine is going just a little too far! While washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes, which means that while washing the dishes one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes. At first glance, that might seem a little silly: Why put so much stress on a simple thing? But that's precisely the point. The fact that I am standing there and washing these bowls is a following my breath, conscious of my presence, and conscious of my thoughts and actions. There's no way I can be tossed around mindlessly like a bottle slapped here and there on the waves. http://www.abuddhistlibrary.com/Buddhism/G%20-%20TNH/TNH/From%20The%20Miracle%20of%20Mindfulness/Teaching.htm http://www.abuddhistlibrary.com/Buddhism/G%20-%20TNH/TNH/Fro...
- mutation 13y agoGreat idea, but not for traffic conditions (all traffic signs have to be unambiguous all the time). Also, these small touchscreens in a public area will eventually be smashed or stolen.
- wahsd 13y agoI was just thinking that there is really room for another innovation. Ever been a driver at an intersection where you have a turning green light at the same time as the pedestrians crossing the street you are trying to turn on and there is a constant stream of one or two people that keeps you and other drivers from turning until the pedestrian light turns red and only one car has the chance to turn? How about implementing something like the OP light, that leads to grouping pedestrians crossing the street to allow a car to turn in between them. Seems smart to me, especially in areas like universities or work centers where there are rushes of people in between classes, lunch, or rush-hour.
- 0m1cr0n 13y agoI think what you're describing is a "scamble" crosswalk. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedestrian_scramble http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedestrian_scramble They're a nice way of balancing foot traffic with the need for vehicles to turn at a light. I'm not sure why they're not more popular around the world.
- aestra 13y ago> I'm not sure why they're not more popular around the world Because they tend to prioritize pedestrian traffic.
- wahsd 13y agoCan't have those poor people taking over our streets, now can we? Feet don't make rich people money, cars do.
- wahsd 13y agoNot quite. I was thinking of a single crossing. At least in the US at many intersections the pedestrian light is synced with the parallel car traffic, which leads to a stream of people blocking right turn traffic due to a constant stream. I am talking about building in a batch iteration, e.g., during the green light, there is a flashing yellow that requires pedestrians to stop for 5 seconds, which would cause pedestrians crossing to group together and creating gaps during which cars can turn.
- jccooper 13y agoHuh. I thought this was actually "Why Games Should Enter The Public Domain" for a while (though of course I should have known better because of HN's headline policy). If it were, it would be a wonderful argument in it's simplicity; as is, it's a concrete example.
- Xdes 13y agoI wish there were traffic lights that would countdown until the the light changes (quantitative) or use something like an hourglass (qualitative).
- adamio 13y agoThis exists all over in a crosswalk timer. Usually the don't walk is timed with the light change. http://goo.gl/SbtP9e http://goo.gl/SbtP9e
- salmonellaeater 13y agoThere are... just not in the US. They're actually a mixed bag so it's not necessarily a tragedy that the US doesn't use them: Based on the operational studies, only the red time countdown device has a positive influence on safety and delay but increases the travel time and decreases the capacity. The pedestrian countdown signal, however, has little improvements for both travel directions.[1] [1] http://www.ce.siue.edu/faculty/hzhou/publication/What%20do%20we%20know%20about%20the%20signal.pdf http://www.ce.siue.edu/faculty/hzhou/publication/What%20do%2...
- moron4hire 13y agoActually, we have them all over in the DC area.
- crorella 13y agoThat last face it's perfect for a meme.
- tkorri 13y agoWe did something similar a few months back, though there's no CGI effects in our video: http://kahbow.com/post/70484446933/ http://kahbow.com/post/70484446933/
- anotherevan 13y agoIt seems that those saying, “are we really this sad that we need video games on street lights to entertain us,” are missing the point a bit. First sentence on the web-site: “StreetPong is a concept about playful urban interactions.” The last three words are the key here. I think it is a cool way to encourage complete strangers in a big anonymous city to have a little interaction, and then get to shake hands or high-five as they pass each other crossing the street. Who knows what positive effects little ideas like this could foster?
- doorty 13y agoThis also gives pedestrians a fun alternative to jay walking.