When Swedish design firms team up to create something, the end result will most assuredly yield a product that underscores safety and innovation – like no other.
POC, Volvo and the communications company, Ericsson, have teamed up to create a technology that can alert motorists and cyclists, of one another’s presence, via the vehicle’s peripherals and the cyclist’s helmet.
According to Volvo: “The technology consists of a connected car and helmet prototype that will establish 2-way communication offering proximity alerts to Volvo drivers and cyclists and thereby avoid accidents.”
Essentially, an app enables the vehicle’s communications system to pinpoint the location of a cyclist(s) around it. And, when a collision is deemed imminent, a head-up display warns the driver, while a warning light on the cyclist’s helmet also alerts the rider.
Volvo adds: “No car manufacturer has previously put a stake in the ground to help address the problem by using Connected Safety technology – until now.
The technology is the result of Volvo’s goal of eliminating the number of serious injuries or deaths of drivers/occupants of its vehicles to "zero" by 2020, as well as reduce the number of casualties of road users such as cyclists and pedestrians.
As for POC, first and foremost, their helmets have always been designed around safety and protection.
Currently, the technology is limited to POC and Volvo, and whether or not GPS and smartphone data speeds are capable of sending a warning fast enough, remains to be seen. Nevertheless, the principle is there.
POC, Volvo and Ericsson, claim their technology is the first of its kind in the world, and they have plans to unveil it at next month’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.
http://www.pocsports.com
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