We all know that carefully planned signs along a byway can welcome visitors, point the way and tell the byway’s story. Communicating with byways travelers in ways that don’t add visual clutter to the byway experience is often a challenge, as both commercial and wayfinding signage tends to proliferate over time. The Walt Disney Company is experimenting with ways to communicate with its visitors by non-visual means in order to enhance visitors’ experiences and protect the visual landscape. We have successfully created a technology for pavement “grooves and ridges” which cause tires literally to hum a tune as a vehicle passes over them! In the future, this non-visual “cue” to guests could let them know they are approaching a Disney property and bring smiles to their faces.
Why not use Scenic Byways as the leading-edge “laboratory” to test creative new approaches to alerting motorists that they are approaching a wayside, a recreation opportunity or an interpretive site? Consistent throughout a byway - or all byways - these innovative cues could effectively communicate a standardized message, much like a stop sign, while helping to eliminate the need for visual clutter and creating a sense of continuity along the byway. Several unique, recognizable rhythms or tonal patterns could be used as audible invitations to pause along the byway, making visitors more receptive to “hearing” the byway stories we have to tell.
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