In the United States, lack of attention while driving has become the first cause of accidents on the road and 30% of them happen as car drivers are talking or sending messages through their cell phones. Less known are the estimations concerning pedestrians. Of course, accidents are often less serious: pedestrians stumble on manhole covers, run into another person or crash into a window, which, most of the time, hurts their pride only. A recent study from the University of Ohio has established that the number of admissions of pedestrians to the casualty department for injuries due to the use of a cell phone, almost double every year.

According to the New York Times, the era of mobile gadgets is making mobility more and more dangerous and pedestrians do not hesitate to follow their gadgets’ rhythm rather than their feet’s.

Crafty ones found a solution by creating applications to protect people who cannot lift their noses from their screens.

Walking in the real world while staying connected to the virtual world

These applications use the phone camera to make the screen literally transparent, allowing users to write messages or e-mails while staying aware of their environment. Among the most popular applications, there are TextVision, Type n Walk and Email ’n Walk. With TextVision for instance, it is possible to update one’s Facebook page, write messages and send e-mails with the same application while being able to see what is behind one’s screen. This is the little bonus that helps people keep a panoramic vision but that will certainly not encourage the most addicted to Smartphones to kick the habit.

For Clifford Mass, a communication professor at the Stanford University, these applications remain gadgets, as he explains that the main problem is that “our brains cannot do it all at the same time” and that we have to choose between phoning and walking.

Translated by Oona Bijasson

Related content : application, iPhone