Hello Lamp Post Austin was a playful SMS platform which invited people to strike up conversations with familiar street furniture using the text message function of their mobile phones. The project utilized existing infrastructure, making it core to the experience of encouraging people to leave located messages and stories for each other. Users texted the objects unique pre-existing code to an advertised number which ‘awakened’ the object, prompting it to ask the person a series of questions that become more personal with every response. Created by London-based designers PAN Studio, the project first launched in Bristol, UK as the winner of the 2013 Playable City Award. Hello Lamp Post: Austin was commissioned by the City of Austin Art in Public Places program in celebration of its 30th anniversary, and in partnership with Art Alliance Austin. It ran from February 12, 2015 to April 25, 2015.