Cars of the near future will be equipped with their own zebra crossing projector, according to Mercedes.
The German car maker has developed high-tech headlights that comprise one million pixels, each of which can be illuminated or dimmed independently. The car’s cameras and radar look out for other road users and then tailor the headlight beam accordingly. For example, the light would be dimmed partially to avoid blinding an oncoming cyclist. The headlights can also be used to projected road signs and markings.
If the car identifies pedestrians waiting at the side of the road, it can project a zebra crossing onto the road surface as a signal to safely cross the road.
Zebra crossing projector
The type of zebra crossing projector proposed by Mercedes is a clever use of technology, but offers only an ephemeral reduction in road danger. Getting a real zebra crossing installed outside schools and on the streets that need them the most is an arduous task. It’s the reason we developed a pop-up zebra crossing.
The pop-up zebra crossing was an example of guerrilla marketing – a low-cost, unconventional, and often localised way of promoting a product or an idea, which in this case was road danger reduction.
On behalf of the thousands of children who struggle each day to cross busy streets outside their schools, the pop-up zebra crossing was designed to be installed on any road in less than a minute.
£50 zebra crossing
The idea caught the imagination of the national press because the crossing cost less than £50 – a tiny fraction of the tens of thousands quoted by local authorities. It used recycled linoleum, drain pipes and two orange balloons to create an effect almost indistinguishable from the real thing.
Requests for zebra crossings, even for those outside schools, are frequently turned down on the basis of cost.
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