International car manufacturers Toyota, BMW and insurance company Allianz will license innovation from Silicon Valley start-up Nauto, which utilizes electronic cameras and artificial intelligence systems in cars to comprehend motorist behavior, Nauto stated on Friday.
Nauto Chief Executive Stefan Heck informed Reuters the automakers and insurer will incorporate the technology into their test automobiles and use the aggregate and anonymized information – whether on driving practices, hard crossways, or traffic congestion – to assist develop their autonomous vehicle methods.
The investment by BMWi Ventures, Allianz Ventures and the Toyota Research Institute highlights the vehicle market’s demand for wise systems to enhance car and driver security, decrease liability and make fleet operations more effective, while getting ready for self-driving vehicles of the future.
Terms of the offer were not disclosed, however the parties will each have an equity stake in Nauto. A 3rd unnamed car manufacturer also invested, Nauto stated.
Nauto’s present system, used by industrial fleet consumers such as San Francisco’s Citywide Taxi, utilizes a $400 device connected to the windshield making up a small camera and computer-based vision system with device learning to gather and process information.
The system can spot habits such as drinking or texting, and alert the driver not to do specific behaviors – helping insurance providers to assess threat, avoid fraud and reward excellent drivers.
Longer-term, Nauto strategies to move away from its retrofit gadget and incorporate its software into brand-new production automobiles, depending on a massive cloud-networked information set that will not just record how automobiles and drivers carry out, however track road conditions and other safety events outside the automobile.
Pooled details on both good and bad driving practices, and the myriad of scenarios drivers face on city roads, is important prior to automakers can understand how to set their autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles.
The company got a $12 million Series A round of funding in April.
