Charging at daytime, glowing at night. That is what the smart highway of the future can do. Glowing Lines uses photo-luminescent paint to mark out the edges of the road, and a projects from Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde: designed to make highways safer while saving money and energy.
The paint on the road absorbs solar energy during the day then illuminates at night. The lines are now installed along the N329 route in Oss (The Netherlands) for an initiative called Road of the Future. Three glowing green lines run along each side of the dual carriageway and illuminate every night.
Roosegaarde described driving along the section of road at night as “going through a fairy tale”. Roosegaarde’s other Smart Highway proposals include temperature-reactive paints that will indicate to drivers when roads are icy, interactive street lamps that come on as vehicles approach then dim as they pass by and “wind lights” powered by the air from passing vehicles.
And most of all, it is beautiful. “Technopoetry”, as Roosegaarde calls it. And smart is the new green.
Have a look at how it works here: