With so many people using their smartphone and tablets while they walk, it makes it increasingly probable that many consumers miss the crosswalk alerts ahead of them with their attention directed to the ground rather than up ahead. In order to eliminate the potential for accidents, the team at Büro North have put together the 'Smart Tactile Paving' that shows changes in walking direction on the pavement.
The 'Smart Tactile Paving' system is essentially a set of circular lines that together form a grid inside the roadside pavement. The LED lights change color depending on whether pedestrians can walk across the crosswalk or not. If they can, the lights change to green. Similarly, the lights turn red when they need to stop.
The idea is that the lights are visible underneath someone holding out their smartphone, so they can still identify the crosswalk signals.
Pavement-Focused Crosswalk Alerts
'Smart Tactile Paving' Directs Crossers Focused on The Ground
Trend Themes
1. Smart Tactile Paving - Disruptive innovation opportunity in the development of similar tactile paving systems.
2. Crosswalk Alerts - Disruptive innovation opportunity in the creation of crosswalk alert systems that are visible even when people are looking down at their devices.
3. Pedestrian Safety Technology - Disruptive innovation opportunity in the development of wearable technology for pedestrians that alerts them to crosswalk signals.
Industry Implications
1. Urban Planning - Disruptive innovation opportunity to incorporate more pedestrian safety technology into city planning and infrastructure projects.
2. Smart Cities - Disruptive innovation opportunity to include crosswalk alerts and smart tactile paving systems in the development of smart city technology.
3. Mobile Devices - Disruptive innovation opportunity to create new mobile device applications that use location-based services to provide pedestrian safety alerts.