Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
(Serving suggestion.)

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


                                       

Queuing Up In Amazement

convert queuing up areas into adjustable mazes
  (+5, -2)
(+5, -2)
  [vote for,
against]

Most airports now feature queues for security checking, with people snaking along inside rows of low level barriers constructed from metal tubing. The idea is make this procedure part of a sort of natural selection process, by converting the queuing barriers into the walls of an elaborate maze that’s under the control of a smart central processor.

Here’s how it works: On a quiet day, the maze is very simple and people can negotiate it with total ease. On much busier days where congestion is a significant issue, the controller will automatically reconfigure the maze, making it more and more convoluted by adding and moving barriers, thereby extending the corridors the passengers must negotiate. It’s entirely possible to keep people wandering around in there for up to an hour.

As people enter they are given a colour. Moving lines of LEDs corresponding to the colour that must then be followed. This means that people head off into the maze in different directions, dutifully following their assigned colour. The smart ones will of course ignore this and may naturally find their way out in less time. If congestion begins to ease up, the maze will adjust itself to increase the flow of people.

Queuing Up In Amazement is a bit of an adventure instead of the dreary lines all shuffling along in the same direction.

xenzag, Oct 06 2017

Watermaze [calum, Oct 06 2017]

This Kerala Bar Has Built A Maze To Escape Supreme Court's Liquor Ban http://www.huffingt...eme-cou_a_22031228/
The Indian Supreme Court recently ruled that liquor stores and bars must be located at least 500 meters away from national highways. One bar along a national highway has built a labyrinth to its entrance to get around this ruling. [sbowles, Oct 06 2017]

[link]






       This idea blatantly discriminates against the slow-witted, the socially conformant, and the terminally bewildered.   

       Excellent. [+]
8th of 7, Oct 06 2017
  

       Excellent indeed. I think the airport should also provide itinerant mime artists for the amusement of the queuers - clever negotiation of the maze would allow one to avoid them completely.
MaxwellBuchanan, Oct 06 2017
  

       Waiting is sometimes a period of internal reflection or a moment of sleep.
wjt, Oct 06 2017
  

       This should be coupled with a watermaze q.v.
calum, Oct 06 2017
  

       Passengers who are Swimming To Cambodia put on your snorkels and enter here:
xenzag, Oct 06 2017
  

       // Passengers who are Swimming To Cambodia put on your snorkels and enter here: //   

       "Passengers who are Swimming To Bolivia put on your straitjackets and enter here:"
8th of 7, Oct 06 2017
  

       Why just airports ? Walmart comes to mind... actually the entire store could be turned into (more of a) shopping maze.
FlyingToaster, Oct 06 2017
  

       Do you really mean a maze, or a labyrinth?
hippo, Oct 06 2017
  

       A labyrinth requires a Minotaur, and we thought that was too much trouble re feeding etc.
xenzag, Oct 06 2017
  

       Instead of a Minotaur, you could have something carnivorous, which could feed on those entering the labyrinth.
8th of 7, Oct 06 2017
  

       A Minotaur would be a good idea, and we could widen the employment criteria to include those people who look a bit like a Minotaur (and are otherwise practically unemployable) rather than demanding that they are actually real bull-human chimeras. However, the distinction between mazes and labyrinths that I was hinting at is that labyrinths have a single path through them whereas mazes have multiple, branching paths.
hippo, Oct 06 2017
  

       Then there are whole stores that are mazes. IKEA comes to mind.
RayfordSteele, Oct 06 2017
  

       They get elected to public office, of course.
8th of 7, Oct 06 2017
  

       There always needs to be a separate line for Americans, as they do not queue. As lines are by definition straight, this can be no longer then the widest dimension of the room.
mylodon, Oct 06 2017
  

       You're kidding me. We queue with the best of them. We have to, as traffic would be impossible without it. It's the Italians who have no queue clue.
RayfordSteele, Oct 06 2017
  

       Americans don't queue, they get backed up.
mylodon, Oct 06 2017
  

       On reel-to-reel?
RayfordSteele, Oct 07 2017
  
      
[annotate]
  


 

back: main index

business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle