By Lee Kyung-min
The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) plans to install music-playing streetlights in four places by 2018.
Inspired by the "Sonic Bloom" outside Seattle's Pacific Science Center in the U.S., the key functions of the lights will include playing tunes that best match the weather of the day, and changing them based on the movement of people underneath it, the SMG said.
The city government plans to make them one of the city's landmarks that will serve as major attractions for tourists and locals.
Popular city parks will be the most likely locations for the musical lights.
The SMG has yet to decide whether the installations will be of a fundamentally new design, or simply require the attaching of a motion-detecting device to existing streetlights.
The SMG is seeking professional help from renowned designers worldwide for the project, officials said.
With the limited inspiration of Seattle's installations, the city plans to differentiate it and come up with something unique and that best meets local tastes, they said.
"As far as we know, the singing streetlights are the first of their kind here, if installed," a city official said. "Some citizens worry the plan could end up as a copy of the Seattle installation. Basically, the intent is similar ― to provide citizens a place to rest and enjoy a moment of peace and happiness."
It will cost some 120 million won ($108,000) a year until 2018 to install the streetlights.
The solar-powered Sonic Bloom was installed in 2013 in a bid to educate and raise public awareness about solar energy. The lights are in the shape of sunflowers with green and orange stems.
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