Cities Unlocked

Daan Roosegaarde’s smart highways work as interactive environments that connect people. Instead of spending money on new cars Roosegaarde looks at the existing infrastructure of roads. He has designed highways that visually communicate to drivers if the roads are slippery, highways that generate electricity for lighting, and highways with the ability to charge electric cars as they are driven along the road. In the designs road signs would also have the ability to react to traffic conditions. There are also plans to extend these designs to cycle paths. Ideas of visual feedback such as a glow in the dark paints and interactive lights could help as guide aids for hearing impaired or partially sighted users.

Company: Studio Roosegaarde (interactive design), the Netherlands
Components: glow-in-the-dark road paints, dynamic paints, wind lights and interactive lights