Make highway billboards out of e-pigment, so they can be changed at will. For a suitable fee, commuters can get an RFID tag for their car, so that whatever THEY choose is displayed on every billboard they pass.

Personal reminders, successive lines of a novel, landscape paintings. Messages about how great the purchaser is in bed. That sort of thing.
-- GutPunchLullabies, Aug 31 2006

RFID wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFID
[GutPunchLullabies, Aug 31 2006]

Mini USA: "Motorby" (pilot program) http://motoringfile...i-usas-motorboards/
User gives information to company. Company programs billboard with information and sends keyfob to owner. Keyfob triggers display of information when passing billboard. [jutta, Jan 15 2007]

[marked-for-deletion] WTCTTISITMWIBNIIWR (Minority Report)
-- ldischler, Aug 31 2006


[marked-for-deletion] RFID magic.
-- Galbinus_Caeli, Aug 31 2006


A. I assume those angry looking letters mean this was done in Minority Report. If so, it must have been in the original book, because in the movie all they did was personalize advertisements based on face-recognition technology.

B. It must be nice for whoever runs the NYS Thruway, that they were able to hire those wizards. They certainly seem to have used their arcane powers to good effect making that automatic-toll-paying system. You know, the one that detects your RFID tag as you drive by?
-- GutPunchLullabies, Aug 31 2006


Those are not RFID tags, they are powered transponders. Completely different technology.
-- Galbinus_Caeli, Aug 31 2006


Umm.. It's still radio frequency... It still identifies you...

See wikipedia article, they cite toll-tags as "active RFID".
-- GutPunchLullabies, Aug 31 2006


Ok, I guess from a wide defintion, it is RFID, but it is still magic. How do you block the image from you, but not from your passenger, or the next car in the lane, or the cars in the lanes on either side of you?
-- Galbinus_Caeli, Aug 31 2006


I don't block the image from anyone. I CHANGE the BILLBOARD. It changes back to ads after you pass. It is a premium service, probably expensive, and certainly the ego trip involved is a major selling point.
-- GutPunchLullabies, Aug 31 2006


Ah! Sounds expensive. Time to turn a bone into a bun
-- Galbinus_Caeli, Aug 31 2006


Ah, can I purchase billboard-time attached to someone else's transponder? Those messages about how good I am in bed could be put to better use.
-- wiml, Sep 01 2006


You could hide your transponder in someone's glovebox. Also have the option of purchasing a one-day contract, suitable for marriage proposals?
-- GutPunchLullabies, Sep 01 2006


Is there a "make the billboard disappear" option then for a small fee those of us who are sick of them wont have to see them.

Also what happens when two people are driving near each other and they both have the service, What gets displayed?
-- jhomrighaus, Sep 01 2006


Whoever has paid the most, of course.
-- Galbinus_Caeli, Sep 01 2006


//Is there a "make the billboard disappear" option then for a small fee those of us who are sick of them wont have to see them.//

Put a camera on the back of it so that it will show whatever is behind it. Also, that camera could change direction based on where you are in relation to the billboard.
-- apocalyps956, Sep 01 2006


Disappear? There is really nothing you would want to see a hundred feet wide?

How about a nice relaxing mountain vista? Or a weather report? Sports updates? News headlines? Whales? (I like whales)
-- GutPunchLullabies, Sep 04 2006


/There is really nothing you would want to see a hundred feet wide?/

Not while I am driving. If I want to see something that big, I will stand between two mirrors and look at my bum.
-- Galbinus_Caeli, Sep 04 2006


[admin: I'm ignoring the two marked-for-deletion tags. For WTCTTIS..., the *author* must have seen it - that you know it was in a movie/... isn't enough; and yes, "Active RFID" is one name for those transponder tags.]
-- jutta, Jun 26 2007



random, halfbakery