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Japan’s singing road - November 13, 2007

According to some extremely bizarre reports coming out of Japan, scientists have developed a ‘melody road’ to keep drivers focused. Apparently grooves cut into the road produce a melody when cars drive over at the right speed (from the Deputy Dog blog).

Unfortunately this ‘right speed’ is a rather pathetic 45 kilometres per hour. Driving faster sounds like fast forwarding while crawling along at 20 kilometres per hour may make you feel nauseous (Guardian, Sidney Morning Herald). News.com.au says a report on the work, by the Hokkaido Industrial Research Institute, has been published in the Japanese Gijutsu Iten Foramu journal

I’m not entirely convinced this isn’t an elaborate spoof but there is a news item video of the road at work on Gizmodo. This features comedy giant notes painted on the asphalt, outbreaks of laughter from the presenter, and what can only marginally be described as a melody.

Posted by Daniel Cressey on November 13, 2007
Categories: Neat technologies | | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Comments

The invention of the "singing asphalt" is not japanese, but invented in Denmark in 1996, by me and my friend, Steen Krarup Jensen. It was called an "Asphaltophone". For further information take a look at
www.freud-magnus.dk/jakob

Your Jakob Freud-Magnus

Posted by: Jakob Freud-Magnus | November 28, 2007 07:22 PM

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