Smart Cities World header - Technology claims to detect "hidden pedestrians" - Viziblezone claims that its prototype system has proven that it can detect pedestrians even hidden behind objects at distances of up to 150 metres.

Viziblezone makes use of in-vehicle and mobile phone RF facilities to detect pedestrians
Viziblezone makes use of in-vehicle and mobile phone RF facilities to detect pedestrians

Israeli pedestrian detection start-up, Viziblezone, reports it has reached a major milestone in the development of its detector technology.

The company claims that its prototype system has proven that it can detect pedestrians even hidden behind objects at distances of up to 150 metres.

Vehicle-to-pedestrian tech

According to Viziblezone, 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, the company notes

In June 2019, the World Health Organisation 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 per cent 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.

“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,” said Gabi Ofir, CEO and founder of Viziblezone.

“By utilising 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 metres, even when located behind obstacles and outside the vehicle’s line-of-sight.”

“By utilising the wide distribution of mobile devices among pedestrians, it transforms them into “smart beacons” that cars can see and then avoid”

Part of the Jerusalem-based OurCrowd Labs/02 innovation incubator, Viziblezone is preparing for the mass deployment of its solution for application in both conventional, and autonomous vehicles.

The incubator provides hands on support for start-ups 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’.

“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 travelling vehicle,” added Moshe Raines, CEO of OurCrowd Labs/02.

“By turning the pedestrian’s mobile phones into accident prevention devices, Viziblezone offers a comprehensive solution for pedestrian safety.”

Viziblezone said it 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.

OurCrowd Labs/02 is a seed-stage incubator described as at the heart of Jerusalem’s innovation scene. The incubator’s core mission is to advance cutting-edge technology that will shape the future in innovative areas including artificial intelligence, deep learning, autonomous transportation and smart cities.