-Alexa Lempel
This just may be the coolest idea ever. So we all know how vinyl records produce analog sound by running a needle over carefully placed grooves, and I’m sure at least a few of us have run over those annoying screech-producing warning strips that border the edges of highways… but it took a true stroke of genius to put two and two together here.
Enter the singing road. A few calculated notches and any ordinary street can be transformed into a record, with any set of passing tires acting as a needle. With some careful planning, one could reproduce entire symphonies and even human speech! As far as I know, only three of these musical roads currently exist (Japan, Korea, and California can claim one each), but this is way too cool not to catch on eventually.
I think that is absolutely brilliant and innovative! It’s also a great way to get the drivers to stay within speed limit, that is, if they want to get the pitches and rhythm right. I think it is really cool, and if in the near future engines can become absolutely silent, the sound would be even cooler! It almost seems kind of magical, like the roads are singing to you.