Don't you still need poles to hold up the wires?

johnsoninca: Don't you still need poles to hold up the wires?

It looks like in the pics they are running from building to building.

One and done. Those wires don't hold themselves up.

Now where will children pin up pictures of their lost pets?!

Sometimes utility poles save lives when cars hit them instead of you or your living room.

/live in RI, this is a concern

Now you have unsightly wires running everywhere. Fail.

ecmoRandomNumbers: Now you have unsightly wires running everywhere. Fail.

THIS!

Gorgeous. Let's give them a design award!

When I envision the future, this is one of the things I see. Pretty farking awesome.

torch: One and done. Those wires don't hold themselves up.

Yeah well what if they also invented self-levitating magnowires too, and just didn't mention it in the article? What then Mr. smarty pants?

Now what will I stick my tongue and pyramid scheme flyers to?

ecmoRandomNumbers: Now you have unsightly wires running everywhere. Fail.

Exactly. Street lights with underground wires look a lot nicer than having wires strung all over the place.

johnsoninca: Don't you still need poles to hold up the wires?

It wouldn't pass Hurricane code.

It's a streetlight, people! Living just to find emotion hiding somewhere in the night!

Our little "main street" area just spent several million dollars on a "streetscape." Added pedestrian bump-outs, seating, wider sidewalks, more traditional-looking streetlights, and got rid of (almost) all the utility poles and wires. It looks nice, and was already attracting new businesses even in the "lakes full of mud" phase.

Still, this idea might work well in places where the poles aren't coming down anytime soon.

On a street with a solid frontage I could see stringing up a line from close to the roof line on horizontal poles. It's not as if they're using a heavy line. This actually would clean up the street level.

Of course, so would putting up conventional lights jutting from the buildings.

All you have to do is grab the property rights of the building owners.

johnsoninca: Don't you still need poles to hold up the wires?

Yes, but this enables a wider area to be more effectively illuminated.

Take, for instance, mall parking lots. While they may have lights, they are not usually spaced in such a way as to make the lot more than easily navigable by pedestrians searching for their vehicles. Any more poles added would make the lot less navigable for vehicles and reduce the number of parking spots. If these were strung between existing poles, the lot could be far more effectively lit without impeding the vehicular access.

These will really work well in compact urban areas.

wildcardjack: On a street with a solid frontage I could see stringing up a line from close to the roof line on horizontal poles. It's not as if they're using a heavy line. This actually would clean up the street level.

Of course, so would putting up conventional lights jutting from the buildings.

All you have to do is grab the property rights of the building owners.

The power company already has the rights on electrical boxes connected to the property, silly. I would think most property owners in a downtown setting would like the opportunity to open up walkways for more traffic, no grabbing involved.

Spoon over Marin: I would think most property owners in a downtown setting would like the opportunity to open up walkways for more traffic, no grabbing involved.

Good point. Depending on the existing setup, these might also serve to illuminate otherwise dark-as-shiat alleyways.

Anyone notice they didn't really demonstrate the effectiveness of the lighting itself? Seems much less a street light and more of a sidewalk light.

come for the "but its aliens" guy.
i am leaving disappointed.

Not only is it an unsightly design fail, it gives birds a place to sit and target people walking below with their sniper poop.

It makes me sad that the yellow sodium lights are all being replaced in the UK with white LEDs.

There's something rather romantic about that useless yellow light, especially in the fog.

ptr2void: Anyone notice they didn't really demonstrate the effectiveness of the lighting itself?

And yes, I am gathering that isn't a clear, moonless night and it is surrounded by buildings with interior lights on.

That would really demonstrate their effectiveness. But maybe that's not their purpose.

I missed the photos...duh. The video didn't seem to really demonstrate it, which it was what I was expecting. Instead it was a bunch of marketing BS.

This is a great idea, until a gust of wind comes by. Then you're in Ray Charles territory.

Good christ there are a lot of idiots in this thread.

LasersHurt: Good christ there are a lot of idiots in this thread.

Its because... aliens.

/Could be anything, really.
/But its aliens.

ptr2void: Anyone notice they didn't really demonstrate the effectiveness of the lighting itself? Seems much less a street light and more of a sidewalk light.

Given some cities' propensity to turn off street lights to save money, it doesn't matter how well they work if they don't turn them on. A street that I used to live on was often pitch black despite enough lights in place to light it up very well. Sometimes a light at the intersection would be on. On many roads in the area every other light pole would be on.

Its obvious to me that this is just a UFO

ecmoRandomNumbers: [i224.photobucket.com image 640x480]

Gorgeous. Let's give them a design award!

I had a dream once where I was trying to find a place to take off and fly but everywhere overhead the sky was blocked by a cage of cabling like this photo and I couldn't find a gap big enough to get out through. Did I say 'dream? I meant 'nightmare'.

You know who else didn't want Poles around?

ChrisDe: You know who else didn't want Poles around?

Just the Jewish ones.

/and the gay ones
//and gypsies
^{///damn gypsies}

Brilliant!

smurfnazi: come for the "but its aliens" guy.
i am leaving disappointed.

this is not tv
diy

Well, I'd like to read your article there, Gizmag, but you have a big subscription ad thing in front of it which I can't move or scroll, so I can't get at the "Close" button which I assume is hiding down below the bottom edge of my 1024x600 netbook screen, which means fark you.

Anyway, from what I'm able to gather here, I don't see the advantage. Light-poles are less visually cluttering IMO than overhead wires, and they serve other useful functions, like supporting street and traffic signs, providing places to lock bikes, and so forth.