Swedish e-scooter startup Voi Technology is teaming up with Dublin-based micro-mobility startup Luna in an effort to change the way we travel. Voi and Luna aim to improve safety by using computer vision technology to prevent pavement riding and increase pedestrian detection.
In 2019, electric scooters saw a boost in use as more people have taken to this new and novel way to get around. This need for mobility, especially during the pandemic, is currently trending, urging the mobility industry to remodel and innovate.
Voi and Luna: The Technology
Luna’s technology focuses on offering real-time lane segmentation and pedestrian detection for e-scooters. The same innovation as what you can find in high-end cars. Founded in 2019 in Dublin, Ireland, Luna explores the ways technology can advance how people move in urban settings.
On the other hand, Voi operates the e-scooter hire service in Cambridge. Their scooters use technology that equips them with tools that identify loopholes and adapt to micro-mobility. They do this by conveying real-time data on how the vehicles are being used.
Together, the two tech companies are launching a pilot program. It will explore the use of computer vision to keep riders and pedestrians safe from pavement riding and collisions. On July 7, Voi tested their e-scooters on the streets of Stockholm and will continue with the deployment in Northampton by the end of this month.
Their goal is to develop e-scooters that can detect when their riders drive them on the pavements instead of roads. These scooters will have smart cameras that these two entities developed jointly. These cameras will track the environment where they are being ridden and give alerts when they’re parked incorrectly or in an unsuitable location.
Voi announced that the scooters would sound alarms as soon as it detects someone rides them. Using the data they gathered from the tests, the scooters will automatically slow down. In addition, the scooters will guide their riders to park in virtual racks that they designate. This is to avoid the riders from blocking the pavements or the bike racks.
The Trial
Before this month ends, Voi will be starting the first phase of the trial. They will be testing on a controlled user group in Northampton, where they have an exclusive license to operate. As of this writing, Voi is unable to operate in Ireland due to regulatory barriers that are in place. They have already expressed the intention of doing so when the country amends the law. In February of this year, the Irish government passed their approval on a plan to allow e-scooter use on Irish roads.
In the second phase, Voi will be installing around 100 cameras on e-scooters that are currently in use by the public. After completing the trials, Luna’s technology will then be incorporated in Voi’s e-scooters available for public use.
The intelligent cameras will use Edge AI that can detect and recognize pedestrians in its field of view and count them. These are GDPR compliant, so there are no recording of faces or images of people taken to protect privacy.
The Future of E-Scooters
According to Voi Technology’s CEO and co-founder, Fredrik Hjelm, the project aims to improve the safety of e-scooter riders. They will tackle the two most common issues they face: pavement riding and pedestrian detection. Pedestrians, especially those with vulnerabilities such as compromised visions, will also benefit from the trials.
The Voi and Luna collaboration will hopefully address and provide solutions to most of the concerns the public has with scooter riding.
