Sat 17 - Sun 18 March

We are delighted to unveil Stop, Smile, Stroll – the winning commission of the latest Playable City Award®, created by UK based design and technology consultancy Hirsch & Mann, which will transform the everyday pedestrian crossing experience into a 30-second party.

Stop, Smile, Stroll is part of the Layered Realities Weekend 5G Showcase - the world’s first public 5G testbed which aims to explore the next generation of wireless and wired connectivity through a series of free experimental public events. This weekend will be the first chance for our audiences to experience Stop, Smile, Stroll.

As we travel the city in our own worlds - often disconnected from our surroundings, it’s all too easy for us to miss those fleeting opportunities to experience moments that are always around us: lights, noise and other people. Designed to break the mundane ‘stop and walk’ routine, Stop, Smile, Stroll transforms a street crossing into an opportunity for sharing a moment of magic, encouraging pedestrians to share their mood and co-create a musical response, all within the timings of a street crossing.

Daniel Hirschmann, Founder and CEO, Hirsch & Mann says,

"Hirsch & Mann can’t wait to present the first ever public installation of ‘Stop Smile Stroll’ at the 5G Layered Realities weekend. With this project, we aim to convert a traffic light into an environment where pedestrians, cyclists and drivers are able to swap the typical feeling of frustration towards one another for a shared moment of playfulness and laughter - delivered via computer vision, custom LED screens, and some good solid music. It’s going to literally rock."

In September 2016, we unveiled the shortlist for the fourth international Playable City Award, which invited artists, designers, architects, technologists and creative practitioners from all over the world to propose new, distinctive ideas responding to the theme of Journeys. Stop, Smile, Stroll was selected from 81 entries, across 34 countries as the winner.

Hilary O’Shaughnessy, Playable City Producer at Watershed says:

“We are delighted to share this version of Stop, Smile, Stroll with Bristol. We can’t wait to see how people co-create their response to this charming and unique crossing experience on such a busy square. The ambitious Layered Realities Weekend 5G Showcase is the perfect platform, where the public can really get a glimpse of what is possible in the future, when the speed of the technology will match the inventiveness of our best creative minds."

In the spirit of thinking by making, Hirsch & Mann will publicly trial Stop, Smile, Stroll right here in Bristol in March before taking it on tour to other Playable City cities globally.

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