Introducing Sentient Streets

Sentient Streets is a new network of connected pedestrian signals imbued with personality and emotion based on the real-time data of each intersection, which in turn determines how the signal interacts with pedestrians and cyclists passing by. Data sources include the number of people and cars using the intersection, the number of pedestrians jaywalking, as well as supplemental data including real-time weather, hyper-local news, and traffic incidents. Crunching all this real-time data, the system performs sentient analysis to compute a 'current' personality and mood for the signal. For example, while the signals are usually upbeat and attentive, too many jaywalkers will make them distressed and especially bad weather will tend to deflate their mood. The signals communicate their mood and useful information to help people be more safe and aware as they traverse the streets.