General Motors (GM) is currently hard at work on churning out a reliable working version of Wireless Pedestrian Detection Technology that when implemented across the board, will hopefully be able to help save more lives on the road despite a driver’s carelessness. The inclusion of Wi-Fi Direct connectivity in vehicles might be able to increase the driver’s awareness level as it is smart enough to be able to detect pedestrians and bicyclists even if you are driving along a congested street (such as those in major cities), or under poor visibility conditions – letting the car detect pedestrians before your eyes are able to register one.
Thanks to Wi-Fi Direct, this peer-to-peer wireless standard will enable devices such as select compatible smartphones to “talk” to one another directly, instead of relying on a shared access point – a cell phone tower, for example. When Wi-Fi Direct is integrated with other sensor-based object detection and driver alert systems, it will go some way in detecting pedestrians and bicyclists who also happen to tote around smartphones that boast of Wi-Fi Direct technology.
Thilo Koslowski, vice president of automotive industry analysis at Gartner Inc., said, “As we move toward becoming a more connected society, having a self-aware connected car will be increasingly important. Not only can Wi-Fi Direct help vehicles seamlessly communicate with other consumer devices, it can also augment vehicle-to-infrastructure communications as well, which could lead to better traffic management and fewer accidents.” It would be nice to see this feature perfected – and soon! [Press Release]
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