NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- An app that alerts
pedestrians as they are about to enter an intersection and one that
alerts drivers when they are showing signs of drowsiness are the
grand prize winners in AT&T's* Connected Intersections
Challenge, a tech challenge aimed at spurring technological
solutions to improve traffic safety on New York City streets. For the past four
months, developers from around the world worked on technologies
that utilize wireless networks to better connect pedestrians,
cyclists and motorists and alert them to potential dangers.
Forty-five teams from 13 countries and 26 states submitted their
apps and wearable devices ranging from smartphone sensors,
phone-to-phone communications and natural user interfaces, among
other technologies. Eight received prizes today.
A panel of leading advocates in transportation, government and
technology judged the competition. The group--Marissa Shorenstein
of AT&T; Kim Wiley-Schwartz of
the New York City Department of Transportation; Mitchell Moss of NYU Rudin Center for
Transportation; Matthew Brimer of
General Assembly; Luke DuBois of
New York University's Polytechnic
School of Engineering; and Justin
Hendrix of NYC Media Lab--presented the awards to the
winning developers in the Solutions for Drivers, Solutions for
Pedestrians and Cyclists, Multi-Modal and Popular Choice
Categories.
"Today's mobile technology allows us to envision and create
solutions to problems in completely new and different ways," said
Marissa Shorenstein, New York
State President of AT&T. "By focusing this challenge
on traffic safety, AT&T hopes to spur a wave of innovation
aimed at making our streets safer for all that use them. The
creative solutions we see here today are just the beginning."
"New York City's Vision Zero
initiative means that we need to use every tool in our arsenal to
drive down traffic related fatalities and injuries. The AT&T
Connected Intersections traffic safety tech challenge calls on the
tech industry to try innovation as simple as the phone in your
pocket to improve safety for drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians
alike," said Kim Wiley-Schwartz,
Assistant Commissioner for Education and Outreach, New York City's Department of Transportation.
"We commend these entrepreneurs and applaud the efforts of AT&T
and NYU Poly to do everything they can to make the streets
safer."
"When NYC Media Lab started talking about this set of issues
with AT&T in 2012, we hoped what was then a seed research
project with masters' students at the NYU Polytechnic School of
Engineering might lead to a broader effort to explore how new media
and communications technologies can be employed to make the City a
safer place," said Justin Hendrix,
Executive Director, NYC Media Lab. "It was rewarding to judge this
challenge and see the many ideas and inventions submitted that seek
to do just that."
"Novel engineering solutions that improve street and traffic
safety in New York City will
benefit all of us," said R. Luke
DuBois, co-director of the NYU School of Engineering
Integrated Digital Media program. "This challenge—and the work that
evolves from it—is a testament to our enduring advocacy on this
issue and our role in developing applied solutions that advance the
goals of Mayor de Blasio's Vision Zero initiative. The School of
Engineering is proud to have worked with AT&T, the NYC Media
Lab, the Rudin Center, and all our other collaborators to develop
and support the Connected Intersections challenge."
"This competition demonstrates that the technologies people
already have in their hands and in their cars can and should be
used to improve pedestrian and street safety in urban
centers," said Mitchell L.
Moss, Henry Hart Rice Professor of Urban Policy and Planning
at NYU Wagner, and Director of the NYU Rudin Center for
Transportation. "We were excited to be a part of this innovative
competition with AT&T and complement enhanced enforcement
efforts with scalable technologies to improve safety for cyclists,
pedestrians and drivers."
"In a world that's being transformed by technology, it's
important we connect responsibly," said Brandon Kessler, CEO of ChallengePost, the web
platform and developer network that powered the competition.
"Through Connected Intersections, developers have shown
how thoughtfully-designed software and hardware have the power
to not only connect us, but make us safer."
The winners of the Challenge are as follows:
Solutions for Pedestrians & Cyclists – Grand Prize Winner
& Popular Choice Winner
Tug
Utilizing low-energy Bluetooth technology, messages are sent from
crosswalk signs to all smartphones at the intersection running the
application in order to alert pedestrians to wait for oncoming
traffic or to cross safely when they have the right of way.
Solutions for Drivers – Grand Prize Winner
Anti-Sleep Alarm
Using a Samsung Gear 2 smartwatch and a smartphone, the Anti-Sleep
Alarm app detects the drowsiness of a driver via hand gestures or
facial recognition and prompts the driver to pull over and rest or
it sets off an alarm if the app determines the driver is falling
asleep behind the wheel.
Solutions for Pedestrians & Cyclists– Second Prize Winner
& Multi-Modal Winner
Rider Alert
Rider Alert hardware scans the street for Bluetooth-enabled
smartphones while moving through traffic with a motorist. It will
sound an alert on smartphones running the Rider Alert application
when pedestrians and cyclists are nearby. The app also uses
smartphone sensors to notice if the driver is looking at the
smartphone screen and warns the driver to look up.
Multi-Modal Winner
Yield
Utilizing Bluetooth low-energy technology, Yield detects drivers or
pedestrians within 10 to 30 meters in proximity of a smartphone
using the app and delivers an alert notifying them to the other
person's presence.
Solutions for Drivers – Popular Choice Winner
Drowsy Detector
Using facial recognition technology, the app determines when a
driver is getting drowsy and sends a warning followed by an alert
that can be deactivated only when driving is ceased. The app also
sends alerts to others in the area that a drowsy driver is
nearby.
Solutions for Drivers – Second Prize Winner
Drive Safely
An app that uses NFC technology to determine if a smartphone user
is sitting in the drivers seat of a vehicle and sends an auto-reply
message to incoming calls and texts while the vehicle is moving The
app runs in the background and will not activate on public transit
or when the smartphone owner is a passenger in a vehicle.
Solutions for Pedestrians & Cyclists – Large Organization
Recognition Award
Look up!
Utilizing GPS technology, smartphone accelerometer and wearable
sensors, the app anticipates when a pedestrian is crossing an
intersection and delivers an on-screen alert warning the pedestrian
to look up.
Solutions for Drivers – Large Organization Recognition
Award
SafeDrive App
An app that awards points to drivers for not texting while driving
and provides the smartphone owner the opportunity to redeem those
points for products and services at partner companies.
AT&T cemented its leadership role as a traffic safety
advocate in 2010 when it developed and launched the "It
Can Wait" campaign to spread
awareness among drivers about the dangers of texting while driving.
The nation's other leading wireless carriers have since joined the
campaign. The Connected Intersections Challenge was kicked off with
the release of a white paper from AT&T and NYC Media Lab that
drew on research from around the country and examined smartphone
distraction and impediments to traffic safety, titled "Exploring
How Mobile Technologies Impact Pedestrian Safety."
For more information on the winning solutions and all of the
submissions, visit http://intersections.challengepost.com/.
*AT&T products and services are
provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc.
under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.
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