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Apparently the Streetwriter has had more than one incarnation – first built into the body of a van – the more recent and advanced model being towable. From the IAA website:
The system consists of a custom built, computer controlled industrial spray painting unit that is built into an extended-body cargo van. The vehicle prints text messages onto the pavement in a manner much like a dot-matrix printer. The expanded width of StreetWriter allows for messages and simple graphics that are legible from tall buildings and low flying aircraft and is capable of rendering messages that are several hundred feet in length.
New! A radical redesign of StreetWriter has taken place. The new machine, tentatively called SWX, recently infiltrated the finish line festivities of the DARPA Grand Challenge. The earlier version of StreetWriter has been officially decomissioned [sic
].
We’d like to propose an additional use for this technology – when government signage fails in emergencies – viz. certain of New York City’s “Flood Evacuation Route” – which may be signs leading to the flood, rather than away – these machines might be put to use correcting government misinformation. Which may, we think, have been the artists’ original intent. If anyone amongst the Popular Logistics readership has a connection to IAA – an exclusive group, from what we hear – we’d like an introduction.