Vehicle Vision: Can You See Me Now?

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The Internet of Recognition™ is all about computing vision; the ability for machines and systems to have sight. This includes automobiles, of course, as we race toward pervasive driverless vehicles of all types, tractor trailer trucks included.

I was on I-70 just east of Kansas City a few years ago, and I saw a driverless tractor trailer truck; a FedX double tandem barrelling down the highway at 75mph. To be clear, there was a guy sitting in the driver seat, but he was eating a salad on a plate with a fork. Seriously.

This was a driverless vehicle.

And as fearful as it might sound, I would rather take my chances with software-driven tractor trailer trucks than a distracted human trying to stab a cherry tomato with a plastic fork and his foot on the gas and a knee on the steering wheel.

Full disclosure: IntelliScape and IntelliScape.io (in which I am a principle) are engaged in the development and delivery of Internet of Recognition™ solutions.

Vehicle Vision

Soon, every vehicle on the road will be capturing streaming video feeds from every angle. Views from the front and sides will usher in an entirely new relationship between your car, businesses, and highway signage. What your car sees will be a close approximation of what you and your riders see.

In a driverless society, billboards and business signage will become more meaningful and more effective.

Setting aside the growing demographic of people who will choose to read or sleep while their cars drive them about town and across the country, the vast majority of us will actually pay more attention to the view through the windows. One reason we will keep our eyes on the world around us is physiological - to avoid motion sickness.

Billboards, storefronts, signs, and attractors will take on a new level of interest as our ability to divert our attention away from driving tasks becomes safer.

Marketing Analytics

Imagine what sort of advertising metrics will be possible when we can aggregate what our vehicles “see” as they pass billboards, logos on trucks, and business storefronts.

There will emerge a vast network of opt-in programs to measure advertising impressions and vehicle owners will be compensated for participation with electric energy credits, discount coupons, and even cash.

But as part of this new network, the advertising loop will be tightened as well.

When you pull into a business that your car has "seen" repeatedly, the store front will recognize your car. It will know that you're a "local" who has passed in front of the business twice a day for last three years.

As you enter the parking area of the business, the store's vehicle recognition system will magically direct your driverless car to the closest parking space.
As you leave your vehicle, another recognition system will take note of your face and match you to your vehicle.
Your combined face and vehicle data will be used to help the business provide you with a personalized buying experience.
Depending on your interest in what this business has to offer, the next time you pass in front of this business, your vehicle might actually receive alerts about products you like.

The Cluetrain Manifesto, written in 1999, defined all markets as "conversations". The Internet of Recognition™ will advance this assertion beyond our wildest imaginations.