You know what it is Sidewalk Labs? No? I'll tell you. Sidewalk Labs is the "armed wing" of Alphabet, the "parent" company also of Google, which deals with urban planning.
And do you know what he did? No? And oh well, I have to do everything today. He created a sensor called Pebble which can exploit real-time data to improve city parking by displaying available spaces.
A Google Maps to find parking!
The new Pebble sensor works just like this: as a link to a parking space. The system can detect whether a vehicle is occupying a car space or not.
Having collected this information, Pebble can then transfer the data to the cloud using cellular networks. The result? That nice space that won't disappoint us will appear in green on our display: that parking lot is really empty, there isn't a Smart car that suddenly appears and dashes our hopes.
What about privacy?
Also on this issue it seems (I remain prudent) there will be no problems. No identifying information will be collected during the process. Pebble will not use the cameras, nor will it transfer data (I know, for example the license plate) of the vehicle in the parking lot.
Sidewalk Labs said the technology could be used by city governments to help local businesses. Or perhaps by residential construction companies, to create shared parking infrastructures.
Easy parking, easy life
Sidewalk Labs is wielding what could be a truly “transformative” everyday solution.
A simple technology, integrated into urban infrastructures and communicating with our devices that tells us if a parking space is free? It can relieve traffic congestion, eradicate headaches and improve our lives in general.
Make it come soon.
If you want to know more, find the details on this dedicated page on the Sidewalk Labs website.
