Successfully navigating a crossing requires pedestrians and drivers to be mutually aware. Big Brother is watching, and he wants you to cross the road safely. In an attempt to improve pedestrian and traffic flow, and reduce jaywalking, the City of Vienna has ordered a research project to look at the potential future of the pedestrian intersection. Researchers at TU Graz’s Institute of Computer Graphics and Vision claim to have hit upon an “intelligent pedestrian traffic light” system that uses cameras to identify when people are ready and waiting to cross the road and automatically prompt lights to change. In doing so, the system would not just create efficiencies for those on foot – not to mention remove the terrible strain of having to push a button (ouch!) – but improve traffic flow as well by continuously monitoring and anticipating pedestrian movement. “The green phase can be extended in the case of large groups of persons, who require more time to cross the road,” explained Horst Possegger from the Institute of Computer Graphics and Vision. “And if persons leave the waiting area before the lights have turned to green, this is also passed on to the lights. The traffic lights subsequently don’t switch to green and there are no unnecessary waiting times for motorised traffic.” According to the release, the cameras mounted on the traffic lights need just one second to pick up a pedestrian and predict their intent, and another second to deem that prediction “reliable.” Creepy or cool? We say bring on the cameras, Big Bro. Ain’t nobody got time for buttons anyway.
Origin: Future pedestrian intersections could predict when you’ll cross