How Can Smartphone Tech Elevate Car Technology To Help Assess The Roads Better?

There is a lot of talk about driverless cars, but what if there was another way to use modern technology to help drop the number of accidents? What if drivers could use smartphones to not only navigate the roads better, but also help assess the hazards around them and assist in avoiding accidents?

You might be wondering how this would work. It's pretty simple, actually. Smartphones already have a camera and GPS, so it just needs access to a few other sensor data streams from the car then artificial intelligence can make intelligent decisions on how best to avoid crashes.

(Image Source: Tesla.com)

This blog post will explore a bit more about how automobiles could evolve thanks in part to mobile technologies like smartphones. The idea is to use Artificial intelligence to gather sensor data from the car and make intelligent decisions on how to avoid a crash, as well as use Virtual reality (VR) technology and smartphones to help drivers get around safely.

Many cars nowadays have a navigation system with a display inside the car of where you are going. Today this is done by the phone sending out GPS coordinates that the car's display system interprets and displays on a visual map interface. The problem with this interface is that it's very difficult to use while driving. How could it be improved?

Virtual reality

We've seen phone augmented reality (AR) technology for navigation and it works pretty well. Instead, why not use Virtual reality (VR)? This works by the phone sending out audio commands to Google software on the PC, which then provides visuals to a screen that is designed to be used in a vehicle. 

The driver would wear a pair of VR glasses that receive the visual feed from their PC and then have the option of seeing their environment from any angle they choose. This allows them to see obstacles in front, behind or side to side without having to look there themselves. This could be a really effective navigation system.

Additionally, this visual interface could have other uses, such as providing directions on a map that you are driving along, simulating what the car looks like when it parks and more. This would also take advantage of a big push in smartphone technology – 3D touch technology. This allows your phone to sense pressure on the screen and provides useful information about the screen (such as indicating if you can interact with something or not).

GPS

A smartphone is already pretty smart at navigating from place to place but what about helping drivers navigate roads? A GPS system is already integrated with many cars today, but here it would work in a similar way as with AR navigation ideas above. The phone would send out a signal and the car's GPS system would then know where the car is. This could be monitored for any deviation from normal behaviour during a crash to gather data that can be used against this deviation.

Additionally, it could gather any unusual driving behaviur to make comparisons with similar driving experiences. With enough information gathered, it might even be possible to offer a little advice such as "You need to let go of the steering wheel and let the wheels steer themselves". These suggestions could then be sent in signal form back to the driver, who might, in turn, value them and react accordingly.

Accelerometer and camera data

GPS and camera-based navigation systems are great for getting around, but what else can smartphone technology do to help with automobile accidents? Firstly, smartphones have a built-in accelerometer that is used for measuring the change in motion. It's the same kind of technology used in smartwatches to notify you if you are moving too fast or if you have suddenly stopped. This could prove useful when driving because it could indicate if an accident is imminent, much like an airbag would.

Next, smartphones have a camera that is used to take pictures, among many other things. This could be used in the car to capture vital information such as images of the accident and weather conditions that can then be analysed to work out what factors may have been involved at play. This technology could also be useful by using its gyroscope feature where it tells the car if it is moving left or right and therefore whether an accident was caused by a particularly sharp turn of the steering wheel.

Voice recognition systems

Using Artificial intelligence for cars can do more than just help navigate them around safely. It can also help assess road conditions in real-time. Currently, there are a number of software products that can help drivers with this, but there is always room for improvement. With the right combination of voice recognition technology and smartphone data, it may be possible to analyse driving behaviours in real-time while they are happening. For example, when a driver crashes into the back of another car, if they say, "I was at fault" or, "I have taken my eyes off the road", this could be compared to their previous driving behaviour and history to decide whether it was reasonable or not.

Additionally, why not combine the use of artificial intelligence and VR so that drivers can see how an accident could have been avoided by using the data collected? This might not be as good as if an expert were sitting in the back seat, but it could prove to be a useful tool for assessing risk and preventing accidents.

What we have seen here is just a small collection of what smartphone technology could do to help prevent auto accidents in the future. While driverless cars are still a long way off, this technology could well prove useful in our transition to the "connected car" that is more reliant on 5G data connection and might not even have a steering wheel.