Most recently, the micro-mobility company Lime shared plans of initiating its own advanced rider assistance technology. In Paris at a recent Lime event, the company revealed its ultimate goal of establishing a computer visions platform, complete with cameras that can discern when users are driving on sidewalks.
One of Lime's features, referred to as "Advanced Sidewalk Detection," has the ultimate objective of eliminating friction or tension between pedestrians and scooter riders who are traveling on the sidewalks. Advanced Sidewalk Detection utilizes camera sensors and machines in order to properly assess whether riders are on scooters. Typically, it will emit an audio recording or cause the scooter to slow down in order to warn the user of potential pedestrians who could be in the way.
According to President of Lime, Joe Kraus, this particular feature is only one part of its ultimate goal of innovation for and dedication to computer vision technology in the long term. The Advanced Sidewalk Detection feature primarily depends on GPS signals in order to detect the presences of sidewalks and potential pedestrians. Another potential feature based on this GPS detection system is the ability to pinpoint instances of illegal parking.
"Lime Vision doubles down on our commitment to building vertically-integrated hardware and software as we aim to provide the safest possible service to cities and our riders," said Kraus.
"We're excited about this transformative array of safety measures, particularly Advanced Sidewalk Detection supported by Lime Vision, which will set a new standard for the industry," Kraus added. "Building this in-house means we can integrate Lime Vision into our hardware, constantly refine the technology through learnings from our global operations, and scale Lime Vision to new cities with ease."
Another feature that Kraus hopes to employ in the future is the ability to prevent drunk users from driving the scooters.