Hey fantastic idea: instead of creating a city environment that is more welcoming and friendly for people to actually talk to each other, the City of Tel Aviv has decided to pilot phone “zombie” LED lights, those glaring headache-inducing, pineal gland disrupting lights that make you crave you were in a forest somewhere. Smart phone addiction has even convinced the administrators that better to be safe than sorry.
Earlier this week, the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality installed the country’s first LED light strips at a pedestrian crossing in central Tel Aviv. Strips of LEDs connected to existing traffic lights have been installed at the pavement edge and change color at the same time as their eye-level counterparts. The floor lighting is designed to warn texting pedestrians, who walk without paying attention to their surroundings, because they are too focused on their smartphones, that they are about to cross the road.
The distracted Smartphone Zombies or “Smombies” are a worldwide phenomenon and similar devices and warning signs have been installed in Europe, Singapore and Australia over the past few years, according to a release sent out by the city.
The LED lights located on either side of the intersection of Ibn Gabirol and David Bloch Street, opposite the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality, are currently part of a trial and will be expanded throughout the city if deemed a success.
We vote nay. We need more greenery, less commercialism, safer sidewalks from electric bikes. Less light pollution. A friend of mine said he lost his intuition last time he was in Tokyo. With the massive amount of LED lights there, I am not surprised. Take back our night and get rid of this hazard. Read here about how LED lights disrupt our melatonin.
Author: Karin Kloosterman
Karin Kloosterman is an award-winning journalist, innovation strategist, and founder of Green Prophet, one of the Middle East’s pioneering sustainability platforms. She has ranked in the Top 10 of Verizon innovation competitions, participated in NASA-linked challenges, and spoken worldwide on climate, food security, and future resilience. With an IoT technology patent, features in Canada’s National Post, and leadership inside teams building next-generation agricultural and planetary systems — including Mars-farming concepts — Karin operates at the intersection of storytelling, science, and systems change. She doesn’t report on the future – she helps design it. Reach out directly to [email protected]
