Two years ago, Sandro Engel and Amelie Kunzler came up with an idea to create smart crosswalk buttons that let you play Pong with people on the other side of the street as you waited for the light to change.
The video of their faked prototype (seen above) garnered more than five million views, so they decided to try and turn it into a real thing. Last month, StreetPong became "ActiWait — a smart traffic light button," with the launch of an Indiegogo campaign run by their new company Urban Invention.
With the help of a lot of research and discussions with traffic engineers, the duo installed their first working prototype at a local street in Hildesheim, Germany. But the 3D printed prototype, which feature local WIFI communication and touchscreens to let you play Pong against a player on the other side of the street, is just the start.
The team wants to create hardware and software that can be rolled out around the world allowing the smart buttons to provide things like a news feed, navigation, traffic education for children, citizen surveys, speed dating and, of course, games.
The fundraising campaign has until Jan. 19 to raise €35,000 or a bit more than $43,000. Currently it's brought in a measly €240. Already the sole version of StreetPong has created some pretty tense games.
