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“Lifesaving” Breakthrough in Viziblezone’s “Hidden Pedestrian” Detection System for Self-Driving Cars
Days after the World Health Organization releases shocking statistics on pedestrian deaths in motor-vehicle accidents, Israeli pedestrian detection start-up, Viziblezone, announces a potentially lifesaving breakthrough
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Jerusalem – July 2, 2019 – Viziblezone, the provider of the first ready-to-launch ‘vehicle-to-pedestrian’ (V2P) solution, announced today that its patent-protected pedestrian detector technology successfully completed a major development milestone. The company reported that its prototype system has now proved that it can detect pedestrians even hidden behind objects at distances of up to 150 meters.
In June, the World Health Organization reported that in 2018, more than 1.5 million people were killed, and more than 50 million injured in road accidents. Of these casualties, more than 50% were pedestrians and cyclists – a number that tragically continues to grow. In Israel, authorities noted that there had been 43 pedestrian fatalities in the country since the beginning of 2019 alone.
While many technologies to mitigate vehicle-to-vehicle accidents have been developed in recent years, there remains a significant lack of vehicle-to-pedestrian accident prevention systems. Meanwhile, with the growth of autonomously driven vehicles, and the expansion of technologies such as robo-taxis, the risks to pedestrians are increasing exponentially at a rate that existing vehicle sensor systems can’t effectively address.
Gabi Ofir, CEO and founder of Viziblezone explained, “Viziblezone offers a cost-effective, software-based ‘pedestrian detector’ that effectively turns in-vehicle and mobile phone RF facilities into a kind of an “Iron Dome” for people on the streets and sidewalks. By utilizing the wide distribution of mobile devices among pedestrians, it transforms them into “smart beacons” that cars can see and then avoid. The solution is designed to operate and save lives under any weather and visibility conditions, with the ability to detect pedestrians at up to 150 meters, even when located behind obstacles and outside the vehicle’s line-of-sight.”
Part of the Jerusalem based OurCrowd Labs/02 innovation incubator, Viziblezone is now preparing for the mass deployment of its lifesaving solution for application in both conventional, and autonomous vehicles. The incubator provides hands on support for startups in a range of fields including AI, deep learning, autonomous transportation and smart cities, and works in partnership with Motorola Solutions, Reliance Industries and the Hebrew University’s technology transfer program ‘Yissum’.
Moshe Raines, CEO of OurCrowd Labs/02 said, “Viziblezone is tackling the most complicated issue in the automotive domain: which is the unpredictability of human behavior near roads. There are many technologies out there such as smart cameras, Lidar, radar and others, solving for many causes of road accidents, but until now there has been no adequate solution to the problem of “hidden pedestrians” obscured by obstacles, and who appears suddenly in front of a traveling vehicle. By turning the pedestrian’s mobile phones into accident prevention devices, Viziblezone offers a comprehensive solution for pedestrian safety.”
Viziblezone aims to provide the pedestrian detector component free of charge for mobile manufacturers, with a one-time license fee for every unit installed in the cars. For more information or to join the evaluation program please contact info@vizible.zone.
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About OurCrowd Labs/02: OurCrowd Labs/02 is Jerusalem’s seed-stage incubator, centered at the heart of the city’s innovation scene. The incubator’s core mission is to advance cutting-edge technology that will shape the future in innovative areas including AI, deep learning, autonomous transportation and smart cities. Labs/02 invests in outstanding and highly motivated founders, and leads them with a hands-on, mentorship-driven approach. The incubator’s program is designed with a boot camp feel to help founders jumpstart their companies towards success. OurCrowd Labs/02, located in Jerusalem, is a partnership between OurCrowd, Motorola Solutions (MSI), Reliance Industries (RELIANCE.NS) and Yissum (the Technology Transfer Company of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.) The incubator is part of the world-famous Israeli incubator program administered by the Israel Innovation Authority (formerly the office of the Chief Scientist.) For more information visit: www.labs02.com or email info@labs02.com.
For press materials: http://blog.gold.ocdvlp.com/VZPR
Press Contact:
Leah Stern, OurCrowd Dir. of Communications
P: +44 747 019 6826
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