Using time delay light switches in common areas of residential buildings is common in Germany, so it's interesting to see that this approach has been take outdoors. Fumbling around for the light switch (which is usually illuminated but not always easy to find) is a little annoying, but they turn off the light after a few minutes, so it saves lots of energy in a very low-tech way.
LED streetlights are another great way to save energy and money as well: http://www.metropolismag.com/story/20081217/a-bright-future Motion detectors would have been an even easier way to turn on the lights, but street lights often have just one switch per street; they're not individually addressed. Motion detectors are being installed in many newer buildings, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them on newly paved streets in the near future. SMS (text messages) was likely chosen as a means of controlling the lights because it's so readily available – every handset can send one. People from all walks of life have been using text messages with command-line-style codes to download ringtones, images and games, or to register for events, order items and so on, for nearly ten years. Experience-wise, it's not a very elegant means of controlling street lights, but it gets the job done. For those of you who speak German, here's more on how the service works: https://www.dial4light.de/dial4light/d4lDefault.do ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [email protected] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
