Israeli technology developer Tactile Mobility will add its ‘tactile’ road condition data to the Here Marketplace and collaborate with location data and platform services provider Here Technologies to market its unique datasets to automotive manufacturers, road authorities, and other organisations.
Joining other premium mobility brands on the Here Marketplace for location-based data, Tactile Mobility will expand its commercial reach to automotive and municipal customers seeking its unique tactile virtual sensing data that includes real-world information on road conditions. Tactile’s new commercial relationship with Here will accelerate the sale of its tactile data to automakers, municipalities, mobility companies, road authorities and fleet managers seeking to develop services and products based on how vehicles ‘feel’ the road. The Here Marketplace will enable large collections of tactile data to be brought to market for a range of potential customers and support the easy transmission of data for new location-based applications and solutions.
Currently embedded in multiple major car manufacturers’ vehicles, Tactile Mobility’s software uses a vehicle’s built-in, non-visual sensor data, including wheel speed, wheel angle, RPM (revs per minute), and more, to calculate valuable information on vehicle-road dynamics and to create two data models that enable safer and more enjoyable driving in diverse environments:
- VehicleDNA, a representation of each vehicle’s unique characteristics, including engine and braking efficiency, tire health, and fuel consumption;
- SurfaceDNA, a mapping layer of road conditions and hazards that offers an in-depth and real-time view of driving environments to support planned maintenance, live hazard detection, post-accident analysis, and more.
Road condition data sourced from Tactile Mobility’s unique tactile sensing technology will be shared on the Here Marketplace for purchase by a range of data-seeking customers, including automakers and municipalities, to fulfil diverse industry needs. Tactile Mobility will contribute over 10 terabytes of data on road conditions including grip levels and pavement surface conditions such as bumps, cracks, and potholes, collected from more than 1.5 billion 98-feet (30m) long road segments across Europe and North America. The company’s ability to gather and transform previously inaccessible tactile data into actionable insights for entities across the transportation and municipal sectors makes it a major player in the quest to make intelligent mobility and smart cities a reality.
“We’re thrilled to introduce our unique tactile data to the Here Marketplace, where it can serve a myriad of purposes, including enhancing vehicle safety, road safety and road asset management,” said Eitan Grosbard, vice president of business development at Tactile Mobility. “With its innovative data marketplace, Here Technologies is fast becoming a leading data provider in the mobility world. By leveraging their platform, we can accelerate our mission to bring tactile data to players at the forefront of the mobility industries. This is yet another milestone for us as we expand our global reach.”
Knuth Sexauer, senior director of sales for EMEA region automotive at Here, said, “We are excited to add Tactile Mobility’s pioneering new category of automotive data, tactile data, to the Here Platform. The company’s unique offering will enrich and diversify our digital ecosystem of third-party data, enabling our mobility and automotive clients to create new solutions, increase their revenue, and optimize the way people move from A to B.”
