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Intersections

We tend to see the future as something just like today only with shinier, niftier toys. This ignores, obviously, the profoundly disruptive influence technology can have on how a society functions or looks like. The example I've often used is that 10 years ago, if you saw a person talking to themselves as they walked down the street, blithely conversing with someone not there, you'd assume they someone in need of medical assistance. Nowadays, we assume that person is talking on a phone or a bluetooth device.



Actually, speaking of a phone, ever since texting and social networks, I've had very little need to call anyone for any purpose. I get annoyed when I see my phone app trying to get my attention with its strangely insistent notification alarm. What could be so important that it couldn't be texted, messaged, posted, or commented on?

Technology changes behavior and expectations. Keep that in mind as you examine this video I pulled from an article on the future of intersections in a future of driverless automobiles. Envision this same intersection not as a collection of 8 bit dots but a stream of one and two ton vehicles barreling through the same interchange, missing each other by what appears to be inches. Think about what sort of city that pattern suggests.



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Comments

AlexDW said…
Why do the yellow cars turn into white cars?
February 12, 2013 at 5:51 AM
Morgan Crooks said…
I honestly don't know but it appears that some cars steam right through the intersection always white, while others switch to white after they stop at the intersection. To me it seems that the cars who turn switch to yellow once they make the turn. But that's really just a guess. I also don't know how this video was generated, whether it's just a visualization of the automated traffic flow or if it comes from the program that would presumably govern this behavior. Good question!
February 12, 2013 at 3:27 PM
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