German Pedestrians Can Now Play ‘Pong’ With Each Other While Waiting At The Crosswalk

Whenever the words “traffic” and “pong” come to mind, I imagine a Frogger-like situation with real people. A few German students had a different game in mind when they initially proposed their “StreetPong” concept back in 2012. Give or take a few European adjustments (i.e. “pong” = “soccer”), it’s now available for public use. From Colossal:

Amelie Künzler, Sandro Angel, and Holger Michel [worked] with design firms and traffic experts to build a fully-functional device. After two years of waiting, the game units have been designed and approved for use by the city of Hildesheim, Germany where they were installed two weeks ago. Rebranded as the ActiWait, the devices aren’t just a clever way to pass the time while waiting for cars, hopefully they disuade impatient pedestrians from darting through traffic.

This is so awesome, yet I can’t help thinking it wouldn’t translate well stateside. American pedestrians just don’t give a flying f*ck about traffic, whether on wheels or in heels. Hell, just this morning I witnessed a bicyclist get smashed by a driver who, like most of his peers, doesn’t know what a turn signal is. When he approached her with his license and insurance information, the bicyclist did her best impersonation of The Departed and left the scene.

Check out the video below to see the game in action, along with some happy Germans.

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(Source: Colossal)

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