Togetherness of mankind could be promoted by using two shared words all over the world on doors. Instead of "push" and its many language-dependent equivalents-> "TO"; instead of (or besides) "pull"-> "OT". All nationalities would know what to do, even if they are accustomed to Asian or Arabic signs, because "TO" and "OT" are visually extremely simple. On a transparent door it is enough to stick the letters on 1 side of the door. Color-coding: "TO" green (because the traffic light 'go' is green); "OT" red. Pronunciation is very simple, too.
-- jratkai, Apr 24 2010

TO / OT the door https://sites.google.com/site/tootthedoor
[jratkai, Apr 24 2010]

Arrow door handle https://technabob.c.../arrow-door-handle/
Shows the way (for glass door, obvs) [neutrinos_shadow, May 18 2022]

[marked-for-deletion] spam.... and not even edible spam, either: one of those cans of "feel good, let's all wear the same t-shirt, why can't we all just get along" spam that makes you upchuck before you can get a forkful in sideways, that Robinson Crusoe would chuck back into the sea unopened.
-- FlyingToaster, Apr 25 2010


Steady on, [Toaster], it's not *that* bad. Spam is normally trying to sell us something, which this isn't. I suppose it might be MFD Let's All... , but if that's so then almost all ideas about language conventions would have to go.

I'm not going to vote for this, because language-independent signage is not a new idea, and this is not a particularly clever example of it - but I don't think it should be marked for deletion.
-- pertinax, Apr 26 2010


Trolling then. whatever [marked-for-deletion]. And it's a particularaly stupid example of it.

I got a $110 ticket the other day because of this sort of crap. City gov't doesn't want to go bilingual on roadsigns (because it's the seat of an English-speaking province) so there's a sign that should be either in English or English/French (both of which I can manage for that level of simplicity) that instead is a hieroglyphic. A non-intuitive hierogplyhic that's surrounded by invalid and competing signage.

(none of which I incidentally remember because the shock of having a cop jump out of the bushes and flag me down blew away my short-term memory: it was several hours before I pieced together what I was doing there in the first place).

Meanwhile...

[marked-for-deletion] spam, overtly non-commercial.
[marked-for-deletion] advocacy
[marked-for-deletion] let's all
[marked-for-deletion] bad science
[marked-for-deletion] not an original idea.
-- FlyingToaster, Apr 26 2010


The only question I have is whether this is spam or not. He hasn't sold the idea on his site, so it's really nothing more than a link to the original idea text.

Everything else is moot and explained away as 110 dollars worth of frustration. (edit) Make that $160.
-- daseva, Apr 26 2010


Make it zero. They want the right-turn lane to be right-turn only. The offending sign is a curved-line instead of a 90deg angle for intersections, there's a regulatory sign right after saying "straight through to train station", the lane continues on the other side of the street and indeed past the next set of lights, the "right turn only" paint on the road-surface is degraded to the point of being a random splotch, there's traffic-cones (and not the nice flocking variety) all along the side of the road indicating construction that according to yet another sign ended several months ago, but hasn't been started yet, there *is* a sign that says "right lane must exit" but it's an informational sign used to indicate that the lane physically ends or turns, not a regulatory sign. And I get to either pay troll-toll and take a few points on my license or spend a few months poring over government signage manuals. Our hero's destination was over 100km away along that road and he wasn't particularly interested in queue-jumping just to get the extra 10-15 second advantage (and attendant gasoline wasteage).
-- FlyingToaster, Apr 26 2010


[admin: Given the non-commercial nature and the fairly low volume, I don't think this is spam either. Generally, if you're frustrated with an idea whose relevance or significance you don't see, please just say so in plain English, rather than by burying it in marked-for-deletion tags and off-topic conversations. Thanks!]
-- jutta, Apr 27 2010


Interesting idea and an interesting reaction from the halfbakers. [+] from me.
-- doctorremulac3, May 17 2022


This idea is fundamentally flawed because as well as knowing whether to push or to pull, the user also needs to know which side of the door is the hinging side and which is the opening side.

The proposed TO and OT symbols fail at this because there is no obviouslness to decide whether their mirroring references a mirroring in the direction of the door opening, or the side of the door which opens. There is also no built in logic as to which sign means which.

In summary, as a visitor to your demonstration building, I come to a door which is marked "TO". How do I know what the symbol means? I try pushing and pulling and I find I have to push, and the door opens away from me to the right. I come to a second door marked "OT". Do I push it away from me to the left? No I pull it towards me to the left. But this still doesn't tell me what the symbols mean.

How do these symbols reference sliding doors, revolving doors, drawbridges, roller doors, up-and-over garage doors, removable doors, or doors with multiple interlock hinges that can open in either direction?
-- pocmloc, May 18 2022


[pocmloc]; you are waay overthinking this. The symbol, as with a normal handle, would be at the "non hinge" side. Once a person meets a door with TO, & they find that needs to be pushed, & then uses one that says OT, & finds that is for pulling, that should be enough to learn the meaning.
Revolving doors revolve, so would say TO on the face you enter on (perhaps not on glass, so the "wrong" side says nothing). Drawbridges are still "hinged", so would be the same as a normal door, but labelled at the top (again, opposite the hinge). Roller doors aren't hinged, so wouldn't have either. Tilting garage doors are still (initially) pull or push depending on what side you're on, so are labelled as given. Bi-directional are "push" both ways, so could be labelled as such, or nothing at all.
See linky for a similar-but-different solution.
-- neutrinos_shadow, May 18 2022



random, halfbakery