h a l f b a k e r yA riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a rich, flaky crust
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Picture the following scenario. I'm walking down a corridor, toward another person coming the other way. Which way will he go? Left or right? *I just don't know*! But wait! He's wearing "Epaulet Indicators"(TM, Pat. pend. etc.), he's indicating left! Thus collision and confusion are averted and we pass
with no need for embarrasing dances as we negotiate the confluence.
Arbiter circuits for asynchronous computers
http://sciam.com/ar...ageNumber=4&catID=2 [Worldgineer, Oct 27 2004]
TCAS
http://www.honeywelltcas.com/ [Klaatu, Oct 28 2004]
Maritime signal flags
http://www.themeter...ical+flags+meanings Should be applied to everyday life too. [oneoffdave, Oct 28 2004]
(?) Reinforced Epaulettes
http://www.hthughes.../medical/index.html Overalls in your choice of fire retardant fabrics, all with reinforced epaulettes. [oneoffdave, Nov 01 2004]
(??) Head Blinkers
http://www.stupid.com/stat/BLNK.html Directional signals for your ears. [waugsqueke, Dec 05 2004]
[link]
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Needs a, wide load, reverse beeping function. |
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Also needs the faclity to flash somone so they know that you are letting them go first. |
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*insert poor-taste "flashing" joke here* |
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I like it. Plus, it has the added bonus of forcing everyone to wear shirts with epaulets, which seem to have been lost to everyone but the military and the Boy Scouts. |
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[shapu] As it happens, I'm wearing epaulets right now, I nicked this shirt of my grandad and if I could find more like it I'd pay fifty quid a pop because I haven't ironed it in several years and you *just* *can't* *tell*...
Sam "SammyTheSnake" Penny |
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This problem has bothered me for quite some time. |
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When I go shopping down the busy shopping centre, I'm always nearly walking into people. As soon as myself and the offending person are face to face, we try to walk out of each other's way. But they're always thinking what I'm thinking. She'll move right, and I'll move right. So surely if I move left, it's problem solved. But no, she'll move left too. I need to think two steps ahead, so I move right, but she's pre-empted my move. Nervous laughing ensues and the problem persists, until I just pick her up by her waist, pivot 180 degrees and put her back down. |
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But I've also noticed that the problem only ever occurs when I become concious of it being a problem. People tend to naturally drift out of each other's way when in semi-crowded areas like a shopping centre. I don't have any real evidence for this, it's just something I've noticed. |
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I've noticed this too. In England there seems to be an unwritten code that you pass on the left, so that each passee has the other on their right. You would think this would solve the problem, but in fact it only translates it sideways. When two people approach head-on or slightly to the left, they will both veer left. But when they approach slightly to the right, the dance will still occur. |
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Not thinking too hard about it does help though. |
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All foot traffic should use sailing rules. Correction only required if you're not making or losing trees. Walker being passed has right-of-way. Less manouverable walker has right-of-way. Always pass port-to-port when passing head-on and collision is possible (at least in the US). Changes in course should be made such that intentions are clear (no small corrections). |
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This being said, yours sounds like a good solution in an unstandardized walking world. |
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How about a universal hand gesture, such as pointing toward the direction you want your opponent to move? People would be uncomfortable with it at first, but it would eventually make things a lot easier. |
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If you pointed left I'd assume that meant you were going to go left, and I'd go right. The problem with universal hand gestures is making them universal. |
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"he's indicating left!" - his or yours? |
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And woe be the left-indicator epaulet wearer who comes cross a right-indicator epaulet wearer... t'would be a tragic sight to see |
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//The problem with universal hand gestures is making them universal.// |
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Funny, never been a problem for me |
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Here's an idea. Have Epaulet Indicators communicate wirelessly, and build in an arbiter circuit (link). Then when your turn signal clashes with someone else's turn signal, your direction will be decided for you. |
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World, I thought about that, but as I typed I did the hand gesture, and it felt as though I was ordering my opposition to turn the direction that my hand was pointing in. |
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Sorry, it's a tricky idea for me to articulate. |
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I guess there could be a 4-gesture system that would be unambiguous. Point at them, point left. Point at yourself, point right. Might look silly though. And there's the problem of them doing the opposite at the same time. |
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I had to give this a bun. + |
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Well, if we're going to go this far, can I get running light epaulets so that I can show that I'm sitting adjacent to a walkway, but please don't step on me? |
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Also emergency flasher epaulets, so when I have drunk to immobility I can signal myself as disabled at the side of the pathway. |
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Lastly, brights and dims, for those dark corridors? |
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another fine solution to one of the world's most challenging issues (+). |
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Maybe I think about these things too much, but on the whole gesture thing, I have previously though that you could just point your head and maybe even body toward the direction you intend to turn (walking slightly sideways for a moment) which has the advantage of not looking like you're pointing to where you'd like your dancing partner to turn... |
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Come to think of it, even that wouldn't work. Imagine somebody's coming toward you with their right shoulder slightly forward, you might think they're heading for a slink-sideways-through-the-gap manoeuvre, right-shoulder-first, rather than the intended, I'm turning left. |
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I think the head has to be the better choice. |
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TCAS epaulets. I love it! [+] |
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Nice to see that I'm not the only one who applies the rules of the sea to foot traffic [World]. Of course I should be flying the 'D' Flag most of the time. [link] |
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Heh. I know singles who need a G flag, perhaps combined with a Q flag. R flag would only be needed in strange circumstances, generally involving dark narrow corridors. |
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This appears to me to be a(nother)
system to help people avoid greeting
one another pleasantly and interacting.
[-]. |
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What happens when people signal to move towards the same side at the same time? They both change signals to go the (same) opposite side, apologise, change signals again. It will be like those roof top sirens you see on some police cars. |
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With or without epaulets, there needs to be someone who'll stop and wait for the other person to make a decision before moving from there. That or we can learn aikido and just flip people quickly and gently out of the way. |
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Isn't this already baked in military services all over the world? The little gold stripes / stars / oak leaves / crescents are instantly understood as meaning "Get out of my way."...although this doesn't seem to work of the person is also wearing cowabunga shorts and Jandals. |
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These face-offs are a terrible thing, because they lead to social friction, each of the stalemated duo keeping a civil, yet put-upon smile, while thinking, what a blooming idiot! But the fault actually lies within, with the collision avoidance system hardwired into our brains. It was developed in the Pliocene, when the things to avoid werent moving all that fastlike trees and rocks. Even so, it usually works in crowds, as long as the oncoming person-hazard doesnt have exactly the same reflexes. Thus, ectomorphs rarely face-off with endomorphs, adults rarely with children, etcetera.
Being of medium height and build, I was at great statistical risk. I tried many solutions (like a gorilla suittoo hot!) before realizing Id never had a face-off with a blind man. Of course! So now I leave my glasses in my pocket and wander down the mall, arms extended, not able to see anyone except as vague shapes. And miraculously, I never bump into anyone! |
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When I was a kid I asked my dad what the epaulette things were and he said that if a soldier or sailor was ever lost at sea, the recscue helicopter would attach ropes to his shoulders and air lift him to safety. At the age of 7 this seamed perfectly reasonable. |
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Unfortunatley it still seemed reasonable to me when I was 15 and repeated this pearl of wisdom to a group of friends.... resulting in weeks of peer torture. |
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Do not dispair [etherman]. The epaulettes on racing drivers' clothing and on the jump-suits for rescue personnel are reinforced for just this reason. [link]. |
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<oneoffdave> you have extinguished a childhood nightmare forever. many thanks. I shall now e-mail my , by now protly and be-morgaged friends to rub their face in the fact that I was (almost) right. And I suppose I should start talking to my dad again. It has been 20 years. |
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The person to the other's right has the right of way... that's how it works in airplanes anyway. |
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Boats / ships pass with their port(left) sides facing. Hmmm interesting difference. |
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Beware taxiing float planes. |
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If taxiing a float plane, most certainly beware of floating taxis. |
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What's taxing about float planes? |
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You've got it all wrong! This problem could easily be solved with a quick game of RoShamBo (rock paper scissors). Loser must stand still until the winner has walked past him/her without further ado. |
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+, but couldn't you just go right (or left in UK) |
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I actually get a kick out of the "dance". It gives me a chance to laugh with a total stranger. |
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Me too, it's a great chance to be yourself in public. [-] for trying to destroy such a wonderful thing. |
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No vote, but I admit to enjoying the dance as well. It proves something, but I'm not sure what, but that fact and the dance itself both make me laugh. |
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//you could just point your head and maybe even body toward the direction you intend to turn // |
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This is how people tend to signal where they are going if they aren't thinking about it. When I was in school we tricked people with this. By looking a little in the opposite direction to the one you intend to move you can artificially start a dance. |
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When I partake in a long bout I often look the stanger in the eye and say: "One last dance then I really must go." Usually cuts the tension so much they laugh and we start a convo. Its a lame way to make friends, but hey, you hang out at the HB right? |
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Just move to the right people. I actually
deal with sort of thing every single day
in grand central. There are some rules
to follow: |
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1. No one owns their path.
2. The slower walking person has the
right of way. (I've thought about this
long and hard. However as someone
who walks fast I realize that it would be
wrong for me to just walk into someone
walking slower and I can't expect
people to move out of my way)
3. If someone bumps into you from any
way other than directly into your front,
it is ALWAYS their fault.
4. If you bump into someone front to
front it is both parties fault. If the other
person is the opposite sex and
attractive you flirt with them.
5. In the event of head on collision
move to the right. If moving to the right
is not an option for one or both parties
you are to freeze and cry for help.
6. Let people off the train first! I'm
digressing... |
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[SpocksEyebrow] Yep, you have spent some time on this one! I got a good laugh at #5. |
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I have noticed that people here (US) tend to stay to the right like when driving. |
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Sea rules would work if everyone knew them, but I would guess most don't. They would HOPEFULLY know which side of the street people drive on so maybe that is more universal. |
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{If they don't know which side we should feel free to run them over} |
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I'm going to give this idea a fishbone.
The only way this will work is if the two
indicators communicate and agree on
how to change vectors. Otherwise
someone will indicate left and the other
person will indicate left at the same
time. We already indicate which way we
are going with subtle body movements
and that doesn't work, why would this
idea? |
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Not to be harsh or anything.... |
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//someone will indicate left and the other person will indicate left at the same time//
The reason this won't be a problem [SpocksEyebrow] is that the Epaulet Indicators will light up before the turn is actually made, giving the mutual left-turners time to work out who turns first and avoid the dreading "freeze, you first, no you, both try to go, refreeze, after you, no I insist, nervous smile, how silly, you go, I go, both stop again, exasperated laugh this is getting stupid..." routine. |
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Kinda baked in Captain Scarlet - their epaulettes flashed to indicate incoming communications from Cloudbase. |
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Or, for those not into epaulettes: earring turn signals. |
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