There has been a great deal of chatter in recent months about leaps forward in technology that will allow vehicles to drive themselves. Imagine a world in which your morning and evening commute were done for you with the touch of a button? Life would certainly be less stressful without the perils of traffic and the dangers of reckless drivers. While self-driving cars may be a few years away still, there are apps available for smartphones that can help us navigate to and from destinations with a little more ease.
What it is and How it Works
Recently an app was released for Android devices entitled iOnRoad. The app is what’s known as an augmented reality app and is designed to assist drivers during any commute. It is not designed to help the driver control the vehicle, but it is designed to help heighten a driver’s awareness of their surroundings and provide added safety to any commute.
The device works using GPS chips installed inside all modern smartphones to track the position of the vehicle at all times. This feature works in concert with the device’s camera, tracking the position of the driver’s vehicle as well as other vehicles on the road. In order to operate the driver’s smartphone must be mounted to the windshield of the vehicle.
Specific Features
The primary feature and function of iOnRoad is to provide driver’s with information about their vehicle’s movements and those of the vehicles around them in traffic. Two primary features of the app include collision detection and headway distance monitoring.
Collision detection is exactly what it sounds like. The app uses information it collects through the camera and GPS to determine the speed and distance between the driver’s vehicle and those around them on the road. The app can then alert the driver to possible collisions when vehicles are too close, begin to stray from their lane, or if the driver begins to stray from their lane.
The Headway Distance Monitoring is similar to the collision detection and alert feature, but it seeks to point out possible accidents. This feature measures the distance between the nearest vehicle in front of drivers and, calculating speed of both vehicles and safe stopping distances, alerts drivers of possible accidents.
Additional Features
The app has more features than simple collision detection and headway monitoring. There is a one-button photo capture feature that saves photos from a drive of landmarks or cars that the driver might want to keep, automatically storing them in a gallery.
A parking reminder feature will mark a GPS location on a map when a vehicle is parked somewhere and even store a photo snapshot of the parking space, allowing drivers to easily find their vehicle in a big city or unfamiliar place. The app also has a feature that reads aloud incoming text messages to prevent the urge for drivers to pick up and visibly read text messages while driving.
Reviews are In
Numerous tech critics have taken iOnRoad for a test drive and the reviews are largely positive. The collision detection, headway monitoring, and other alerts performed well in most tests and earned the app high marks. Other features mentioned above were viewed as added benefits, but not really seen as game changers. Given the app is a free download, anyone lacking a luxury car with these features built-in standard could gain a lot of assistance from iOnRoad to make their daily commute a little safer.
Lisa Jackson is a digital expert. She frequently writes about the latest happenings in the computer world on internet focused blogs. Visit the http://www.cleartvbundle.com/tv-internet-bundle/ link to learn about internet bundles.