Techwatch: Saved by the App – a guardian angel in your phone
New smartphone tech could save your life if you come a cropper
‘It works with your phone to detect a crash and get help’
When it comes to pushing the boundaries of lifesaving motorcycle tech, Bosch have been at the forefront for years. For the last two decades, much of the safety technology we’ve come to rely on from simple ABS to high-tech IMUs has been pioneered by the electronics experts in Stuttgart. Now they’ve distilled that learning into an app for smartphone users that could potentially save your life for just a couple of pounds a month.
Time is of the essence
The biggest problem for motorcyclists who have a serious accident is time and it’s the reason why country roads, where most serious motorcycle collisions take place, are also the place for the most fatalities. Bosch’s solution to this is to attempt to cut down the amount of time between the accident happening and it being reported to the emergency services. Instead of waiting for someone to come along, find the accident and report it, Bosch have created an algorithm that plugs into an existing app to let the emergency services know when you need help.
Lots of practice
To create the algorithm, Bosch used the many years of data they have compiled while developing the safety systems we’re used to on modern, high tech motorcycles. From this they know the type of data that’s produced when you have a serious crash. Given that most smartphones now have GPS chips, as well as accelerometers, they can use the data from a phone to work out when a crash has taken place – if it stops suddenly from high speed for instance, or the phone rotates multiple times over suggesting the bike is tumbling down the road.
Bosch to the rescue
If the algorithm thinks a crash has taken place, it contacts Bosch’s 24/7 Help Connect emergency call centre, transmitting current location and severity of the impact. In the call centre, specially trained agents attempt to contact the rider. If the rider doesn’t respond and the sensors have detected a serious accident, they contact the emergency services of the European country you are in with all the info so they can respond to you as quickly as possible. It can even notify friends and relatives if you like. And the cost of all this potentially lifesaving tech? Just £4 a month.