Art Lebedev outthinks the room with square Luxofor traffic lights
By Darren Murph 
posted November 22nd 2008 12:05PM
posted November 22nd 2008 12:05PM
[Via Electronista]
posted November 22nd 2008 12:05PM
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I apologize in advance. In order to minimize maintenance and lower operating costs, the lights should be diamond shaped. Everybody knows diamonds are forever.
I think this is awesome.
Looks good and uses lasers so the message is much more directional.
Hope they install them near me. Would love to see them
They make retrofit LED kits for traffic signals. Our city retrofitted all our traffic signals this year to LED.
Not sure if this has been brought up already but do we really still need three lights? Why not just one? Originally we needed three to allow for the different colors, but LED's can do that on their own now.
I think I just came...
I... Its... Ehm...
I think I like it.
It's... Beautyful :)
have fun picking that off the street after the wind blows it down. theres a reason current streetlights weigh so much
Forget traffic lights at intersections. Instead, mount a set of these on top of everybody's dashboard. As you approach an intersection, the intersection's transmitter causes your red led to glow brighter and brighter.... until your retinas burn. At the same time, the built-in speaker sequences from, "Plese stop, Dave", to "Stop Dave!" to OMG WE"RE GONNA DIE!" at which point a mechanical foot fires out of your instrument panel and slams on the brake petal.
Why didn't you think of this, Art?
if they're using LED, why still have 3 separate "lights"? seems like a waste.
why not just have one panel change from red -> yellow -> green?
Because some people are colourblind. My boss is red/green colourblind, and can't tell the difference between the two. He usually just guesses, and ends up guessing wrong, which could be disastrous if his guess threw a hurtling chunk of metal through a red light.
drunk driver: dude, is that red square thingy a traffic light?
drunk passenger: i dont think so dude, traffic lights are circle, that is round"
drunk driver: oh ok, im not stopping then
*crash*
*square
No good news today?
Bravo, engadget report
I am bored with life
Stupid design. Their flat plane would act like a mirror.
ie: square rhymes with glare,
the big advantage I see here is that when the traffic light
is not lit it' is black, and not a green panel. In certain
lighting it is hard to tell if the traffic signal is red or green
because the other panels appear to be green yellow and red,
but which one is the BRIGHT one? But I think that the LED traffic lamps
solved this dilemma but this might be the next gen traffic lamp.
what I like about it is that with this design
it is clear in an instant what the traffic signal is indicating
I like the countdown pedestrian signs....
can't remember seeing that in NYC....
I think right now they flash to let you know... start running across the street.
a count down would be appreciated my millions each day in NYC.
Let me get this straight, they're honestly suggesting a turn-permitted signal that changes colour from RED to GREEN to indicate when the turn is allowed??? How many people are red/green colour blind?!
In winter areas, snow will accumulate on the square shelf and obscure the light above. They would have to be heated, negating the energy efficiency.
why these huge ugly sunshades when its ultra bright Laser something LED!?
"why didn't I think of that?"
Because square lights with square hoods catch the wind, the most damaging force facing traffic lights.
The goal in their design is usually to reduce their profile and preserve their current ruggedness. Without them, people die.
You never like any traffic sign with a reflective screen if you really want to read it.
the best design imo would be cylindrical. Like a big can with green LEDs in the bottom 3rd, yellow in the middle third, and red in the top 3rd. And at about halfway around the circumference it turns to black plastic for the back, or hell make 2 traffic lights in 1 (for both directions), but putting another series of LEDs on the opposite side instead of the black plastic. No snow would pileup. Not sure how the sunlight would work against this design though.
Something that catched my eye in Blade Runner today: http://jauk.wordpress.com/2008/11/23/fair-and-square-lights/
=)
I like this idea, filling up that space with lights woould make it more visible. Right now, at some interesection I can barely see the lights until it's too late. Of course my cateract might have something to do with that. Just stay out of my way.
Those flat shades will be perfect for bird nests. The reason traffic lights are round is that birds can't build nests on the tops of the shades, and the bottoms of the shades are cut out so they can't build inside either.
The nice thing, is the you have to buy All New traffic lights, as opposed to just retro-fitting the round ones that we already have. That'll save money...
right?
ive seen them with square lights before, they are actually the lenses that make it so you cant see the light lit up unless you are directly in front of it. although they were not that bright. in retrospect those lights probly caused more problems than they prevented.
This one is, actually, a good idea:
http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/air-zebra/
I thought the whole point of a "hood" of a traffic light was to block the light for anyone not directly facing it, in order to decrease confusion.
I have been saying traffic lights could be designed better for a long time. What's with this ridiculously lame redesign? The fundamental visual operation of traffic lights could be improved so much more. 3 different lights per pole, will whole bunch of lights all facing the same direction at some lights, it's ridiculous! We have better technologies. I always look at our new LED traffic lights and think, we could have done so much better.
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