Optical articles and systems interacting with the same

A system comprising:

• a) an article comprising a spatially defined arrangement of a plurality of data rich retroreflective elements, wherein the plurality of retroreflective elements comprise retroreflective elements having at least two different retroreflective properties and at least two different optical contrasts with respect to a background substrate when observed within an ultraviolet spectrum, a visible spectrum, a near-infrared spectrum, or a combination thereof;
• wherein the spatially defined arrangement comprises geometric arrangement in which the retroreflective elements are positioned with a distance from their neighboring retroreflective elements, and wherein the retroreflective elements have a periodicity from one element to another within the spatially defined arrangement;
• and wherein the information related to the data rich plurality of retroreflective articles comprises at least one of:
• road workers expected, pedestrians expected, construction workers expected, students expected, emergency responder workers expected
• b) an optical system;
• and
• c) an inference engine for interpreting and classifying the plurality of retroreflective elements wherein the optical system feeds data to the inference engine.

A system comprising:

• a) an article comprising a spatially defined arrangement of a plurality of data rich retroreflective elements, wherein the plurality of retroreflective elements comprise retroreflective elements having at least two different retroreflective properties and at least two different optical contrasts with respect to a background substrate when observed within an ultraviolet spectrum, a visible spectrum, a near-infrared spectrum, or a combination thereof;
• wherein the spatially defined arrangement comprises geometric arrangement in which the retroreflective elements are positioned with a distance from their neighboring retroreflective elements, and wherein the retroreflective elements have a periodicity from one element to another within the spatially defined arrangement;
• b) an optical system;
• and
• c) an inference engine for interpreting and classifying the plurality of retroreflective elements wherein the optical system feeds data to the inference engine, and wherein the inference engine is locally stored as a component of the optical system or wherein the optical system communicates with the inference engine using a wireless communication protocol.