Good Thinking

Interactive crossing lights the way for pedestrian safety

Interactive crossing lights the way for pedestrian safety
The Starling Crossing prototype was commissioned by UK insurance company Direct Line
The Starling Crossing prototype was commissioned by UK insurance company Direct Line
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If a pedestrian rushes out onto the road, the Starling Crossing's markings can adjust to warn oncoming traffic and plot a person's expected route
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If a pedestrian rushes out onto the road, the Starling Crossing's markings can adjust to warn oncoming traffic and plot a person's expected route
LEDs embedded into the road surface of the Starling Crossing light up to guide pedestrians across the street, while also instructing cyclists and vehicles to stop a safe distance away
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LEDs embedded into the road surface of the Starling Crossing light up to guide pedestrians across the street, while also instructing cyclists and vehicles to stop a safe distance away
Starling Crossing: Object tracking and recognition
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Starling Crossing: Object tracking and recognition
Cameras monitor the Starling Crossing zone and paint the road surface with light to guide pedestrians safely across the street
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Cameras monitor the Starling Crossing zone and paint the road surface with light to guide pedestrians safely across the street
The Starling Crossing prototype was commissioned by UK insurance company Direct Line
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The Starling Crossing prototype was commissioned by UK insurance company Direct Line
View gallery - 5 images

A group of architects, designers, tactical urbanists and creative technologists collectively known as Umbrellium has developed a modern take on the familiar pedestrian crossing. The Starling Crossing is aimed at putting people first, using LEDs to paint the road with markings that guide pedestrians safely across the road while also telling drivers and cyclists when to slow down, stop and go.

The Stigmergic Adaptive Responsive Learning Crossing prototype – or Starling Crossing from short – was temporarily installed recently in South London. The whole zone is monitored by cameras that feed images to a neural network that's able to recognize pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles. It works out the location, trajectory and speed of each tracked road user and anticipates their next move.

Starling Crossing: Object tracking and recognition
Starling Crossing: Object tracking and recognition

The road surface in the zone, which was made to withstand the weight of vehicles and designed so that users won't slip even in heavy rain, has been embedded with computer-controlled LEDs that are visible from all angles in daylight or after dark. The LEDs light up to form road markings, which will be familiar to anyone who has crossed over, driven down or cycled on a British street.

The pedestrian crossing can be programmed to only appear when it detects someone approaching – during times of the day when there aren't many people around, for example – or can expand its width to accommodate increased foot traffic when the work day finishes or it's closing time at the local watering hole.

When it's time for someone to cross the road, unbroken stop markings appear across the lane, signaling oncoming vehicles to stop. The crossing then appears and pedestrians move over to the other side of the road.

LEDs embedded into the road surface of the Starling Crossing light up to guide pedestrians across the street, while also instructing cyclists and vehicles to stop a safe distance away
LEDs embedded into the road surface of the Starling Crossing light up to guide pedestrians across the street, while also instructing cyclists and vehicles to stop a safe distance away

For anyone who has their eyes focused on a smartphone screen instead of the route ahead, the system will paint warning lights around them to bring them back into the real world and ensure their crossing is a safe one. If a child unexpectedly runs onto the road, the Starling Crossing creates a large visual buffer zone so that nearby drivers and cyclists are made aware of their trajectory, and the system can even try and counter driver blindspots by mapping out a hidden pedestrian's expected route across the road.

The Starling Crossing's control system can learn traffic patterns over time and adapt the displayed markings accordingly. "If most people exiting a tube station end up walking diagonally across the road towards a park entrance, the crossing is able to reconfigure as a diagonal or even trapezoidal crossing, with corresponding safety buffer zones," explained Umbrellium.

The interactive, dynamic pedestrian crossing was commissioned by UK insurance company Direct Line and design firm Saatchi & Saatchi, and appears to be a design study only – there's no mention of such a system being rolled out for real world use. But it certainly looks like an interesting concept that could work with existing traffic management technologies to help bring the humble pedestrian crossing into the 21st century. The video below shows the Starling Crossing in use.

Source: Umbrellium

Starling Crossing – Interactive Pedestrian Crossing

View gallery - 5 images
4 comments
4 comments
ljaques
Good idea conceptually. I wonder how well it would work with 3 dozen vehicles, six bicycles, and 47 pedestrians on it. How well can you see the graphics from a seated position in a vehicle? What is the surface traction, since clear surfaces are slippery and textured surfaces don't transmit light well? Lots of tradeoffs.
vince
Kids will abuse it. Stepping into the motion sensors activating it while cars are in the middle of it.
Josh!
You can't effectively light up a road surface with LED's unless it is in darkness. Heck, even the rendering shows nearly useless road-marking legibility in daylight. And just in case you were wondering, glass (even if it is textured for "grip" is just about the worst material choice out there. Everyone who thinks this is a good idea would benefit from watching Thunderfoot debunk the Solar Roadways stunt.
Grumpyrelic
"embedded with computer-controlled LEDs that are visible from all angles in daylight or after dark." That is great until it snows...