Automotive

Fiat's video billboard guides drivers into a parking space

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The Human Parking Aid uses the same parking sensor technology as the Fiat 500
The Human Parking Aid uses the same parking sensor technology as the Fiat 500
The Human Parking Aid billboard uses ultrasonic sensors to monitor the distance between cars
The Human Parking Aid billboard uses a variety of onscreen helpers to indicate the distance between cars with their hands
The Human Parking Aid billboard video footage is synchronized with the distance between cars so that the hands of the on-screen helpers are the correct distance apart
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If a parking space is tight, it's helpful to have a friend guide you in from the sidewalk. To demonstrate the parking sensor technology of the Fiat 500, marketing agency Leo Burnett designed a video billboard that acts as that helpful friend. Sensors are used to gauge a car's location in relation to parked vehicles and Human Parking Aid onscreen helpers show how much room for maneuver the driver has.

The same ultrasonic sensing technology used in the Italian automaker's small city car was "relocated" to the billboard and the parked car toward which drivers would reverse when trying to enter the adjacent space. Using specially-developed software, the distance between the cars was then shown by onscreen helpers on the nine screen video billboard.

The helpers were previously filmed holding their hands apart and gradually bringing them together. This footage was then synchronized in real-time with the proximity of the cars. The distance between a helper's hands provided a clear indication to those parking of how much space a driver had.

Unfortunately, drivers will no longer be able to get any help from the Fiat billboard as it was removed after filming for the campaign had finished. You can, however, see the Human Parking Aid helpers in action in the video below.

Source: Leo Burnett (in German)

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1 comment
Stephen N Russell
Import this to the US, awesome, be radical if US had same electronic billboards as in EU