Sfara Announces Their Operational Autonomous Vehicle Proving Ground to Accelerate Product Development
HOBOKEN, N.J., Aug. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Sfara revealed today its device testing program that evaluates and learns the capabilities and idiosyncrasies of various smartphone models, accelerating the development of mobile-based safety technologies for public infrastructure, consumers and fleets.
The thousands of smartphone models in the global market have different sensor capabilities that produce dramatically different outputs that need to be better understood and managed. These differences inhibit the development of safety-of-life solutions, as well as the accuracy of driver management programs and usage-based insurance (UBI) solutions because they distort data and skew results in complex ways. Unfortunately, the solution to this challenge is not easy. Sfara's new testing will significantly reduce the problem caused by these discrepancies that others in the industry don't even want to acknowledge.
In the spirit of its mission to provide enterprise class solutions, Sfara began studying the ability to use autonomous vehicles on a controlled proving ground to collect data on diverse sets of phone models. "We ran the vehicle on the same pre-programmed route on a closed track, so that all models are tested in identical circumstances." said Ari Valtanen, CTO of Sfara. "What we learned is that human-driven testing simply does not provide the repeatable precision necessary to build predictable behavioral profiles of individual phone models and map their sensor discrepancies."
As a result of these initial studies, Sfara launched an autonomous vehicle proving ground in Finland where they have already tested many smartphone devices with highest market penetrations from around the world. From this data, Sfara has built comprehensive profiles of each device, creating data needed to normalize detection capabilities with unprecedented accuracy.
The ability to normalize detection capabilities by understanding discrepancies is necessary to provide industry with the most accurate mobile detection capability available anywhere. In terms of current market impact, this unprecedented accuracy translates to vastly superior telematics programs that rank and rate drivers, including those for fleet and UBI.
"There is no arguing that discrepancies from disparate devices owned by drivers destroy the credibility of fleet solutions where people's jobs are on the line because of driver rankings. In the UBI world, it's the price of insurance premiums that are at stake." said Rocco Tricarico, CMO of Sfara. "The Sfara autonomous vehicle proving ground also paves the way for our future technologies such as MCAS, which has drawn quite a bit of attention."
Sfara's partnership that created their Multi-Modal Collision Avoidance System (MCAS) introduced a C-V2X infrastructure that opens communication amongst all modes of transportation, including autonomous and non-autonomous vehicles, bicyclists, scooters, pedestrians, and city infrastructure.
"Our rigorous testing of smartphone models is yet another indication of our dedication to solving complex industry challenges with leading edge technologies," said Erik Goldman, CEO of Sfara. "Our leadership team is deeply experienced in both telematics and enterprise organizations. That's why from the beginning, we focused on solving not only technological challenges, but also the complex and often subtle operational ones that matter to enterprises, who require a higher level of accuracy, excellence and accountability."
For more about Sfara, visit http://www.sfara.com
SOURCE Sfara
