Have you ever noticed how stressful traffic in a city can be? Especially at busy intersections where you see pedestrians, cyclists and motorists all focusing on getting to their destinations and generally hating everyone else. Would it be possible to create a shared moment of magic that can break this daily grind, and connect people in a playful way?
That is the question that Stop Smile Stroll tries to answer! It is a playful intervention at pedestrian crossings that acts as a ‘mood detector and reactor’. The experience invites passers-by to show how they’re feeling through their expressions, and captures these before revealing the collective ‘mood of the moment’.
Whether happy, sad, or in between, this mood is celebrated using AR techniques to overlay fun animations over their videos, while at the same time playing a short snippet of related music. Over time, the compilation of data generates an emotional sentiment of the location – which is representative of its local community.
Stop Smile Stroll hopes to break the mundane routine of commuting, and infuse a brief sense of excitement and connection between strangers.
This public artwork was originally commissioned as part of the Playable City Award by Watershed Arts Trust.
