By Frits van der Schaaf – Head of Business Development, Automotive
The National Safety Council estimated that in 2015, approximately 38,300 people were killed on U.S. roads and 4.4 million sustained injuries. These tragic statistics are compelling car makers to add connectivity to their safety designs. Their cars will connect to an ecosystem of cloud-based networks that share information to make drivers more aware of their environment and avoid accidents.
Equipped with sensors that create a 360 degree awareness field, a connected vehicle gathers road hazard data. A geographic information system (GIS) processes the real-time data and transforms it into useful information. Using live weather data and historical incident data, for instance, GIS can predict the risk of an accident occurring on a specific section of road when it is raining or when fog will make the road hard to see.
GIS will also play an important role in vehicle and infrastructure sensor systems that share real-time data with each other. While drivers are traveling down the road, their vehicles are “talking” with various roadside structures. A geofence around a school and elderly housing can alert a car’s system to tell the driver to slow down inside the zone. Car sensors detect treacherous potholes and report the locations to other drivers and the city. Roadside sensor systems can capture real-time data about highway traffic conditions in the lane ahead and automatically relay it to the car’s dashboard to forewarn the driver.
Enterprise GIS provides geographic context, reveals what is happening around the next bend, and predicts risks associated with road segments during a certain time of the day. It is a piece of the puzzle that helps increase roadway safety and avoid accidents.
If you are attending CES, please stop by our booth to learn more.
WHERE: Booth NP-2, Gold Lot, Las Vegas Convention Center North Plaza—International Consumer Electronics Show
WHEN: January 4–8, 2017, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
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