Can’t stop checking your smartphone while driving? RayGo will let you do it, but safely
The RayGo Indiegogo campaign offers users a way to text a drive safely. The project consists of a controller and accompanying smartphone app that converts existing apps to Drive Mode. This allows users to hear and respond to messages without ever taking their eyes off the road.
The RayGo Indiegogo was launched by Project Ray, a three-year-old Israel-based startup that has created mobile software that powers smartphones and smartwatches for the blind and visually impaired. The smartphones run on the company’s modified Android OS featuring simplified versions of popular apps like Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger and Gmail that can be used sightlessly.
When the founders began using these smartphones themselves while driving, they saw how other people might find this technology useful.
“We saw the need by chance,” Michael Vakulenko, chief technology officer and one of three co-founders of Project Ray told iDigitalTimes. “At some point we started to use the smartphones for the blind while driving ourselves and we figured there could be another application for the technology we had developed.”
For such a visual device, smartphones have been incredibly useful for blind users with a plethora of apps designed to read or describe objects to a user who can’t see. But not all blind users are tech savvy and Project Ray developed a simple, eye-free UI for smartphones for those who find iPhone voiceover too complex.
“That actually helped us create something very simple and easy to use for the drivers as well,” Vakulenko said.
It might seem like helping the blind might be more important than helping distracted drivers who really should know better than to look at their phones while driving but Vakulenko doesn’t think so. Rather, the RayGo Indiegogo is a continuation of the company’s mission of solving important problems.
“We see that there is a big challenge because people like to stay connected while driving and unfortunately many people make the mistake of using messaging services while driving,” he said. “This is a very widespread phenomenon in Israel, it’s very widespread in the US, in Europe. Everywhere you look, it’s a source of danger.”
The RayGo Indiegogo was launched more than a week ago as a way to measure interest for such a product. The company has been pleasantly surprised by what it called “very, very positive feedback.” So far, the campaign has raised $20,000 of its $30,000 goal with 30 days left. The company also found unexpected support from cyclists wanting a similar product to mount on the handlebars of their bikes.
RayGo consists of a controller mounted onto your car steering wheel and is paired with an accompanying Android app. The company is working on an iOS version for later this year. The controller has a motion sensor, five physical buttons and Bluetooth to connect to your smartphone.
The controller’s motion sensor, along with your phone’s GPS and gyroscope gives the app information on whether you’re actively using the steering wheel as well as your location and speed. While Project Ray is quick to say this data isn’t tracked or uploaded to their servers, this information is used to assess whether it is safe to push notifications to a driver.
The RayGo app won’t block calls but it will analyze the driving situation to determine whether it should notify you of a new text or wait until you’re finished making a turn or changing lanes. In terms of speed and location, if you’re cruising along a highway keeping to the speed limit then the voice feedback will be faster than if you’re driving erratically in a city environment.
While the RayGo controller is mounted on your steering wheel, your smartphone can be stowed away in your pocket, placed in a car mount or anywhere that’s convenient to you. You just have to make sure you can hear your phone’s speakers or you can connect it to your car’s speakers. Then you’ll be able to hear and respond to messages by tapping the buttons on the controller for pre-written responses or reply via voice recognition.
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