“Smart” pedestrian crossing: Understands the danger to pedestrians and reacts accordingly

© naftemporiki.gr “Smart” pedestrian crossing: Understands the danger to pedestrians and reacts accordingly

The unveiling of the “pedestrian crossing of the future”, which is capable of adapting and reacting quickly to large numbers of pedestrians and dangerous situations, was made in London.

As the BBC says, this prototype uses built-in LEDs on the road surface to quickly change road signs – for example, when a child runs on the road, or suddenly a large crowd of people appear, for example, to watch some kind of event.

This technology displays broader strips to cater for large groups of people, and can also report emergencies that require attention – e.g. red light in the event of a child playing rushing on the road. It is noted that this project is supported by an insurance company, Direct Line, which believes that in this way the roads would become much safer than they are today.

As the Independent says, the developer of Starlink (Stigmergic Adaptive Response Learning Crossing) is the Umbrellium company. The whole system (also serving the purpose of updating abstract pedestrians who walk looking at their smartphones) is accompanied by cameras controlled by a computer system, which can recognize pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles, calculating their speeds and directions. The company also assures that the surface of the crossing remains functional under “difficult” conditions (it does not slip under rain conditions and the LEDs are bright enough to be visible day and night).

Source: www.naftemporiki.gr