Futuristic Glow-in-the-Dark Smart Highways Replace Street Lights in the Netherlands

We have seen the future of highways, and they probably won't have street lights. That's right light-absorbing, glow-in-the-dark road markings have replaced traditional street lights on a 500-meter stretch of highway in The Netherlands. To accomplish this, the roads are treated with a special foto-luminizing powder that's charged by the sun during the day, which allows the marks to glow for up to 10 hours at night.
 

Designer of this project and innovator Daan Roosegaarde says, "One day I was sitting in my car in the Netherlands, and I was amazed by these roads we spend millions on but no one seems to care what they look like and how they behave. I started imagining this Route 66 of the future where technology jumps out of the computer screen and becomes part of us."

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Street Smart: Intelligent Motion-Activated Outdoor Lighting

While we are all familiar with motion-detection technology in controlled indoor environments, the technology problem is much more complex when you add stray animals, wind-blown trees, weather-strewn debris and other dynamic variables into the mix.

This high-tech solution designed and developed by Tvilight involves eight sensors and includes recognition software that can distinguish people and cars from other environmental factors that would trigger normal detectors.

Recognition information is relayed between the various independent light posts to account for the trajectory and velocity of pedestrians and automobiles, allowing both reaction and anticipation. Fine-tuned control options allow off-hours intersections to have the lights turned down by 30%, and mostly-empty areas like parking lots to be dimmed up to 70%.

The statistics are staggering – cities, states and countries could save up to 50% on maintenance costs and 80% on energy by illuminating streets on an as-needed basis rather than continuously. In Europe, 40% of government energy spending is on street lighting, so cutting down the cost and pollution of lights can have an incredible impact.

Engineer and entrepreneur Chintan Shah’s company developed this dynamic system such that it can be applied to street lamps of all kinds, both new and old, in various places – sensors can be added to existing lights with traditional or LED bulbs. Already active in Holland and Ireland, Tvilight is looking to expand into the German, Canada and the United States.

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Concept smart glove with a projector

The futuristic device allows you to make calls, take pictures, and browse through the different content built-in projector. All functions are controlled by gestures.

Perhaps something like the Hand-Tech glove might become possible in the distant future, but it is immediately not achievable given today’s technology levels. Still, the concept offers a glimpse of what the future might hold and how differently we might do things as compared to how we do them today.

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