autoaid, a Berlin-based start-up, will be showing off its Automotive Bulb Camera at CES 2018. This is basically a car LED headlamp and HD camera integrated into one unit and will fit in virtually any car. autoaid says the camera will be able to collect a vast amount of traffic data that would be essential for the continued development of autonomous vehicles. The company also says the new headlight would give drivers the benefit of cutting-edge systems.
The autoaid Automotive Bulb Camera is a high-resolution camera which is integrated into a halogen or LED automotive lamp and is used in conventional car headlight lampholders (e.g H7 or H4). The whole deal is plug-and-play so there shouldn’t be a need for retrofitting any vehicle. This works out well as nothing but the bulb is changed and the look of the vehicle also remains unchanged. The company says the cameras record all traffic events and send them, coupled with the real driving behavior such as steering, braking, and accelerating, as well as with the geodata, to the autoaid’s servers.
From there object recognition software identifies the traffic participants, traffic lights, signs, and much more. The result for the industry is a detailed, almost inexhaustible volume of data for the driving behavior of millions of car drivers.
Moritz Funk, founder and CEO, sums up the benefits: “The Automotive Bulb Camera can be retrofitted into virtually all vehicles more easily and seamlessly than any other prior camera. Without visible changes to the car, new assistance systems are enabled for the end customers, while the industry is provided with the urgently needed data pool for the further development of autonomous driving.”
https://youtu.be/Iq7Yu_xnJpg
It’s an interesting idea but I wonder if people are willing to share even more of their lives and data with yet another company. Reading the fine print would probably be a good idea before installing these babies.
What do you think of this idea? Let us know in the comments below, or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.
Last Updated on January 5, 2018.
