Winner of the Playable City Award
by Startacus Admin
Remember the whole way back to November when Startacus first informed you of the Playable City Awards for 2013? No? That’s okay, we’ve put a hyperlink in to remind you. Feel free to click it.
Anyway, the idea was to promote a sense of playfulness around Bristol city through artwork or creativity with creative technology being a core requirement; and the winners have been
Hello Lamp Post! beat 93 other applications from around the world to secure the £30,000 prize and will see their project installed across the city over the summer of 2013. Their idea is that lampposts, bus stops, post boxes and other assorted generic street items are so common place in cities nowadays so as to be almost invisible. Hello Lamp Post! invites people to conduct secret conversations on these items, communicating by sending texts to items unique codes before seeing your message appear.
These codes and a lot of the other technology is already in existence, using the identity information council staff use to identify if equipment is ever broken or in need of repair.
The way it will work is straight forward. You text the word “Hello”, the name of the object and its code. Something like “Hello post-box 42.” The post-box well then respond, thus giving the impression of a city alive. It might say hello. It might tell you to leave it alone, that it’s busy. Maybe even to put an umbrella over it to stop the rain.
The project though is a good indicator of the opportunities that exist for start-ups if you keep a look out for them. 93 submissions for a project worth £30,000 isn’t an overtly substantive number, so if you see another type of competition and think, “There’ll be thousands of other submissions. No point in me doing it” – remember, everyone else may be thinking the same.
Written by Ethan Loughrey
If you like what you see here on Startacus and want to get involved yourself, why not become a member of our growing community by joining for free here!
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
11 disruptive European travel tech startups are selected to showcase their innovations to 6000+ attendees as part of Travel Technology Europe’s Disrupt Launchpad.
The eco-friendly shopping assistant that helps you find the most nutritious food for the lowest environmental impact.
Small Robot Company, a British agritech robotics startup for sustainable farming, has raised £1.2 million via equity crowdfunding.
Cycle.land, the bike sharing marketplace unlocking the assets of unused bikes, raises over £200k thanks to their successful 2nd equity crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs.
IgniteNI looks to build on legacy with 2nd accelerator programme and San Fran base for 5 selected founders. Applications close asap so be quick to apply.
The startup that's creating technologies to measure and demonstrate sustainability in the food chain.
The lowdown on the London based barbershop and app that will come to you...
UrbanVolt - The Lighting as a Service startup that is on a mission to radically reduce global energy consumption...
From understanding what counts as intellectual property, to what to do if you think IP theft has occurred, we chatted to Andrew Kirke, Director at commercial law firm Tughans to find out more.
The startup that has created the world’s first video-only review and booking platform...
Published on: 9th March 2013
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.
- 11 Travel tech startups selected for Travel Technology Europe’s Disrupt Launchpad 18th Jan 2019 11 disruptive European travel tech startups are selected to showcase their innovations to 6000+ attendees as part of Travel Technology Europe’s Disrupt Launchpad.
- Cycle.land raises £200k to continue their bike sharing journey 16th Jan 2019 Cycle.land, the bike sharing marketplace unlocking the assets of unused bikes, raises over £200k thanks to their successful 2nd equity crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs.
- IgniteNI Accelerator to offer startups San Francisco landing pad 14th Dec 2018 Ignite Accelerator is putting investment-ready tech companies on a global stage thanks to their new San Francisco 'landing pad'.
- Falmouth University Launchpad incubates tech legacy 7th Dec 2018 Developed by Falmouth University in Cornwall, Launchpad is an innovative, post-grad incubation and acceleration programme. We take a look at some of the previous Launchpad alumni.
