These days, if you buy any mid-priced car, it is pretty much guaranteed that it will come with at least some reasonably sophisticated gadgetry to help make your life safer behind the wheel. The list of sensors and electronics gets larger as you move up the price range, but what do you do if you have already bought a car that doesn’t have any of these creature comforts. You add them as aftermarket accessories, that’s what.
The CarVi is something like that. This hockey puck-shaped device is actually a driver’s assistant that uses a windshield-mounted, single-lens camera to record the road, then sends the video to Android or iOS phones via on-board Wi-Fi. The bundled app then uses an algorithm to monitor the film, warning the driver of unsafe following distances and sudden lane changes with audio and visual alerts.
The CarVi even keeps tabs on jackrabbit starts, hard braking, and reckless motoring, providing the user with a map of previous journeys, a daily driving ‘SKOR,’ and suggestions to improve skills behind the wheel.
Development of the CarVi began in 2010 and it now records in a agreeable 720p HD. The unit includes an embedded 3D G sensor, microphone, and Wi-Fi dongle, and supports up to a 64GB Micro SD card. The device measures 100mm in diameter and weighs 250 grams, or just over a half-pound.
Want one? Head over to the crowdfunding for the device at Indiegogo.
