Luxury car maker employs Connected Signals to implement real-time traffic signal data into navigation displays.
SaveBY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
BMW will employ Eugene-based company Connected Signals to implement real-time traffic signal data into its luxury cars’ navigation displays.
The goal is to dissuade drivers from needlessly accelerating, boosting fuel efficiency.
For the [EnLighten] app to work in an area, the city must have an integrated network of smart traffic signals, with a central machine talking to all the signals. In the cities where it has agreements, Connected Signals gets information about what color the signals are and it uses algorithms to figure out how long the signals will stay that color, Ginsberg said. The app then sends that information to the drivers’ phone, or in BMW’s case, to the navigation display.
Connected Signals gets data from about 100 towns and cities — some of which are very small, [founder and CEO Matt] Ginsberg said.
(SOURCE: Register-Guard)
According to the R-G’s report, the German automaker sought the startup and that the partnership “validates what we’re doing,” Ginsberg said. The company is also in talks with several other automakers.
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