Smart’s Dancing Traffic Light aimed to capture the attention of pedestrians and to persuade them to wait patiently for the green light before crossing.
Nobody likes waiting for the traffic light to change, but crossing the road prematurely could be dangerous. To combat this, the Smart company tested a dancing traffic light in Lisbon, Portugal, that gets people to stop at red lights and wait their turn.
The Dancing Traffic Light aimed to capture the attention of people waiting to cross a road by displaying a red figure dancing to music rather than the standard static figure. The figure is a low-res representation of people dancing in a nearby booth and aimed to entertain pedestrians while they wait to cross the road.
An element of gamification was introduced to the concept by allowing people to “be” the dancing figure” and thereby contribute to the project.
Smart says that the Dancing Traffic Light caused 81 percent more pedestrians to stop and wait for the green light than previously.
Click here to watch the video of the experiment. You can also see it here.
