A Humble Innovator

The world of autonomous cars is an industry that fascinates me. Autonomous cars promise a world free of human error. I have reported on this topic before, but I wanted to discuss a startup called Nauto that really intrigues me.

So Nauto basically developed a platform that prevents accidents and reports these preventions across a platform of connect devices. They aren’t developing fully autonomous technology, but their product right now is the first step towards full autonomy.

Here’s how it works. There is a camera that faces the outside environment and one that keeps a constant view of the driver. This is the crazy part-Nauto systems use artificial intelligence to combine the condition of the road with the current behavior of the driver to detect if there is going to be an accident. Through the use of cameras with artificial intelligence, it is a light-year ahead of its dash cam counterparts.

The result is a collision warning system that is superbly accurate. It will alert drivers that are commonly distracted at certain times to perk up. Better yet, fleet managers that use the technology for all of their drivers will be able to assess drivers real time and be alerted of all prevented accidents. Those reckless New York cabbies will have to drive somewhat sensibly if this tech goes viral. The system even goes to the extent of providing useful, constructive criticism to the drivers and relaying that criticism to their bosses!

Nauto proves my point: autonomous cars are here to rid society of common problems. Taxi drivers driving all around New York that are craving a nap will not be prone to causing accidents that hurt both themselves and others.

The technology costs a relatively modest $400 plus a monthly subscription fee. Insurance companies and companies that operate fleets of cars are being targeted since the accidents that commonly occur in their industries can be cleared up (if they are in the rare case not prevented) with just one glance at the system.

Oh, by the way, these guys have been making some progress already for a small startup. They have raised a total of $14 million and have begun to pilot their tech in the San Francisco area on busses and taxis.

I hope you guys enjoyed some industry insider information regarding the lucrative autonomous car market. Stay tuned!