Interactive consultancy Pan Studio is to install the Hello Lamp Post! project in Bristol, which will see people ‘communicate’ with street furniture such as lamp-posts and bus-stops by texting a unique code found on the objects.
.
The project adapts existing codes which are used by the city council to tell one object from another when a light-bulb needs replacing or a bus-stop repairing. Now members of the public will be able to use these codes to ‘play’ with the objects.
If you text the object’s code to a special phone number, it will ‘reply’ with a question. The organisers say, ‘Will it be pleased to see you? Irritated at having been left in the rain? Or will it tell you a secret? The more you play, the more the hidden life of the city will be revealed.’
That sounds like an interesting idea. I wonder where does it come from. Though when I was walking down the streets of my city, I often thought that somebody should check if street lights are working correctly every now and then. Now you can do it for your city. Hope it will spread to the world too.