Remember back in 2018 when the plague of electric scooters descended upon our lands, wreaking havoc, ruining days, and cluttering up sidewalks? The very natural response was to subject these seemingly endless scooters to violence and terror in the hopes that they would leave our families and our children in peace. To fight back, Ford’s scooter company, Spin, is going to start snitching on you when you take our your bad day on a scooter.
Yeah. Ford and Spin have teamed up with Drover AI, an artificial intelligence company that’s developed a technology that can detect improper scooter riding and parking with up to 95 percent accuracy, according to a Ford press release.
This tech, called Spin Insight Level 2, uses Drover AI’s computer vision, machine learning, cameras, and sensors to map out the path ahead of the scooter to tell if, say, you’re riding too fast, or if you’re riding on a sidewalk instead of a proper scootering lane, or if you just dump the fucker off in the middle of the street.
Spin is saying this will “assist riders in making safe decisions.” It sounds like these scooters are just going to snitch on us for the tipsy ride home we take from the bar. And the company is pursuing permits for these bad boys right now.
Here’s more from the release:
Additionally, the technology will enable Spin to share accurate insights with cities about the prevalence and location of sidewalk riding and bike lane riding, which can be used to identify potential congestion issues and road damage and highlight areas that may benefit from infrastructure improvements.
Akin to advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) that use on-board sensors to help automobile drivers park, brake, and stay in their lanes, Spin Insight Level 2 has the ability to combine the latest in sensor and artificial intelligence technologies to enable local regulation compliance enforcement and create a safer experience for riders and pedestrians.
Again—it just sounds like Spin is going to tell on anyone attempting to get away with questionable riding.
In the future, Spin wants to add other features that will notify you towrong-way riding, adjust your vehicle speed based on riding conditions, and offer collision warnings.