Bristol street furniture forms basis of new game

Author: Paul Smithson - 23 January 2013

A new game allows will allow people to interact with existing street furniture in Bristol, reports huffingtonpost.co.uk. 

Developed by PAN Studios in London, 'Hello Lamp Post!' allows people to use the codes on the back of bollards, post boxes, lamp posts and other items to play a game. To communicate with the street furniture, people must text 'hello + the name of the object + its code' - they will then get a personal reply.

The game is the first to receive Playable City funding - £30,000 - and will mean bored individuals can have full conversations with the items surrounding them. PAN's idea was selected from a field of more than 93 projects.

Ben Barker, a representative from the company, said: "This is a huge surprise. When we saw the quality of the shortlist, with work from so many names that we respect, we never imagine being selected. We are really flattered and excited to continue to develop the idea with Watershed on what makes a Playable City over the coming months."

According to designweek.co.uk, the game will be available to play in Bristol from July to August, before going on to tour international locations. The codes used in the project have not been added retrospectively; they are simply the codes used by local councils to identify individual pieces of street furniture.