Thanks to lazy drivers and distracted pedestrians, Britain’s crossings are an accident waiting to happen,  and they frequently do over 7,000 time a year. Yet they’ve remained virtually untouched since their invention.

That was a problem we wanted to fix with urban technologists Umbrellium and experts from The National Transport Research Laboratory.

Together we developed a prototype interactive crossing that adapts its markings in real-time in response to the world around it, preventing accidents from happening. 

The Smart Crossing uses computer vision to react to common dangerous street scenarios, making a distinction between pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles. It calculates their precise locations, trajectories and velocities to anticipate where they might move a moment later.

We designed a unique visual language built around familiar markings and colours, displayed across a surface embedded with programmable LEDs that can be seen from all angles, during both day and night.

The crossing became a nationwide story of innovation for Direct Line, generating 560 pieces of media coverage and shifting the expectations of what the insurance brand experience should be.

The pilot tech has received backing from road safety charity Brake and Direct Line are in talks with 16 councils about bringing the technology to their streets. Umbrellium also launched a subsidiary business to integrate the technology into our cities.

Selected Press
Wired
The Telegraph
BBC News
Campaign
The Sun