About us

Hello world.

We're the Tydda team and our HCI project for this year is Red Light Simon.

First things first- Tydda? Tamar, Yael, Doron, Dudi and Alex. Yael Laventar and Dudi Malik are 3rd year Computer Science students, Alexandra Man and Tamar Garfunkel are 3rd year interactive communication students and Doron Barsky is a 3rd year psychology student. We operate in the miLab (media innovation lab ) our last academic year at the IDC (Interdisciplinary Center) in Herzliyya. We all wait in traffic light, just like you.

The average urban citizen or commuter is bound to spend approximately 3000 hours of his life waiting to cross a signalized crosswalk. With this time, the same individual could have driven 600 times from Manhattan to the White House, watched the Lord of the Rings Trilogy 333 times, and taken 3000 yoga classes. Instead, while you yet again impatiently wait for that little green light, you’ll attempt to distract yourself from the anxiety and irritation you are experiencing, by checking another email or tweet. With your eyes fixated on that flickering mobile screen, you will most likely miss out on that striking someone smiling at you from across the street, and will maybe even take your chances by sprinting across a red light and compromising everyone's' safety.

Our project, “Red Light Simon”, aims to ease the pain of being a frustrated pedestrian. Red Light Simon is a life-sized adaptation of Simon (the popular 80s game), implemented into the urban landscape. The game allows one to pleasantly and actively pass the time remaining until the alternation of the traffic signal and in addition to connect and interact with others. Moreover, we aspire to convert the squandered time spent waiting into efficient environmental contribution, by utilizing the energy created by Simon players for the production of electricity, which will be used to power adjacent traffic lights.       

The Simon interface, mainly consisting of four differently colored pedals upon a piezoelectric surface, will be placed on opposing pavements of a cross-way. When the light turns red, the user arriving at the game will be presented with a pattern which he must recreate, while having the option to do so alone or with the help of others near him. On the opposite side of the road, pedestrians waiting will be presented with the same patterns. The side completing the most patterns will be declared as the winners. The game will be synchronized with the timed programs of the traffic lights, while displaying the time left until the signal alteration and the electricity gained in the game.