UK Edition
'Smart' headphones designed to save pedestrian lives
Hunched over screens and oblivious to the world, pedestrians glued to their smartphones are the bane of almost every modern city centre.
Now, scientists at Columbia University have come up with an ingenious way to protect these “smartphone zombies” from oncoming traffic.
A research team, led by Dr Fred Jiang, has created headphones capable of deciphering hundreds of street sounds to warn pedestrians of imminent danger.
The headphones have miniature microphones embedded within to detect the sound of approaching vehicles.
A processor works out which sounds pose a threat and, if the hazard is close enough, it sends an audio alert to jolt the pedestrian into action.
Dr Jiang developed the technology to reduce the number of pedestrian deaths caused by ‘twalking’, or texting while walking.
The team are now testing the headphones on the streets of New York.
Prof Jiang said his aim is to develop a prototype of the smart headphones at Columbia and then sell the technology to a commercial company.
"We hope that once refined, the technology will be commercialised and mass produced in a way that will help cities reduce pedestrian fatalities," he said.
Cases of ‘twalking’ are on the rise globally. In the UK, a recent survey found that 43pc of young people have walked into something or someone while checking their phone.
Twalking has become such a problem that cities, such as Antwerp in Belgium, have introduced ‘text-walking lanes’ so that they do not irritate or endanger other pedestrians.
China has already started segregating footpaths with special lanes for those using their phones.
Initiatives are also being introduced in a number of European countries to place fixed warnings on the ground to alert pedestrians to the presence of roads and tram tracks.