AwareCar will let you know where you parked and save you from getting a ticket.
Finding a parking space in a city can be tough enough, but when each quarter only gives you a fraction of a minute, running errands in the allotted amount of time gets even tougher. Making matters worse, if a meter goes unfed with change, the consequential parking ticket can cost upwards of $70. Luckily, that may be all be thing of the past as one Bay Area startup has created a system that can make your vehicle smarter while saving you from costly (and annoying) violations.
AwareCar is essentially a Bluetooth beacon that fits inside your glovebox and communicates with your smartphone via an accompanying app. Using data provided by cities and GPS, you will be able to receive updates on the whereabouts of your ride, when a meter will expire and how long it will take to walk back to throw in some more coins.
While AwareStack’s latest platform isn’t much different from others available today, what sets it apart is the inexpensiveness of the hardware, a greater focus on user interaction and its unique ability to leverage context awareness to make an automobile smart. Aside from that, the $9 AwareCar is being billed as the “first app to remember parking levels.” So if you’re among the countless others who’ve experienced a Seinfeld-like conundrum, where you were unsure as to which floor you left your car, the system uses your smartphone’s built-in sensors to track elevation. The app will then let you how close you are, even if that means on a different level of the garage.
“AwareCar is the first system that combines the insight from your car’s context with measurements from your phone’s sensors to solve some of challenging and interesting problems related to driving cars,” the team writes. “Instead of packing these sensors again in a new smart car device, we leverage the car’s context and the phone’s sensor data by using a simple device.”
Looking ahead, its creators hope to add new features to the app using feedback provided by its initial backers. Among the upgrades include IFTTT integration, multi-car tracking support, gas mileage efficiency, fuel warnings based on trip length, as well as a do not disturb mode that reduces interruptions and eliminates the urge to text.
Want one of your own? Head over to AwareCar’s Kickstarter campaign, where the AwareStack crew is seeking $15,000. Units are expected to begin shipping in December 2015.
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