Smart Highways?

[Note: with the long power outage in the New York area due to the storm Sandy and the US elections, my blogging time has been limited, so here’s a short post …]

There has been lots of interesting work on making cars smarter, including self-driving cars for the future, cars that can follow a leader creating a sort of train of cars, all sorts of technology built into cars that are sold today, etc.  

But a Dutch designer, Daan Roosegaarde, is instead focusing on increasing the intelligence and technology built into the highway itself.  His concepts include:

  • Glow-in-the-Dark Road that provides extra illumination
  • Dynamic Paint that portrays the true condition of the road surface by showing an image of the danger, for example ice crystals
  • Interactive Light, Induction Priority Lane and Wind Light which provide sustainable solutions to lighting and other roadway needs.

You can learn more at http://www.studioroosegaarde.net/project/smart-highway/info/  

© 2012 Norman Jacknis

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