I’m Walkin’ Here
When Dustin Hoffman, as Ratso Rizzo, slammed his hand on a taxi and yelled, “I’m Walkin Here!” while crossing against the light, he exemplified the attitude of New Yorkers in the late 1960’s, who felt the streets of the city were just as much theirs as for cars and trucks. Crossing the street was an anywhere affair and even a split second space between moving vehicles was an opportunity to save a few seconds by crossing in the middle of the block. While that attitude has never fully changed, the issue has transformed into a more rational one, where crossing at the corner seems to have finally caught on, but the smartphone has made even that more rational concept as or more deadly than before. It is not uncommon to see those socially self-absorbed wanderers step off the curb into ongoing traffic without lifting their eyes off of their smartphone, often with AirPods or other devices stuck in their ears, lessening the impact of horns or traffic noises that might alert them to an oncoming vehicle.
Trying to change the habits of those addicted to Twitter (TWTR) or Facebook (FB) is a moot point, so LG Electronics (066570.KS) has come up with a solution, an app called ‘Soft V2X’ that has now been modified from its original terminal based application to a smartphone app, and once the app is loaded, those city ramblers will be protected from the hordes of vehicles whose job is to get across an intersection just as the light changes. The application transmits the users current location, direction, and speed to the real-time cloud, where the server side application selects information about vehicle movement, traffic signals, and other relevant metrics, and evaluates the risk of collision. If that risk level reaches a set point, it warns the user with an overlay warning message, sound, and vibration.
The app is also able to detect the potential for collision between vehicles or pedestrians who do not have the app by accessing CCTV information and using AI to predict possible issues by making its own estimates of speed, direction, etc., and the system is also able to access RSU (Intelligent Roadside Units) information that is being added to traffic lights, light poles, and highway markers, in ‘smart’ cities, and combines camera and LIDAR information, making it an effective solution for traffic and pedestrian monitoring during adverse weather conditions or at night. The LGE system also has a ‘child’ mode, which alerts the user when there are children pedestrians nearby or when the user is entering a school zone or near a stopped school bus.
While V2X was originally designed as a control system for vehicles, the adaptation to mobile devices opens that up to billions of potential users, and while LG Electronics does not have an actual commercialization date yet, the thought is that they will give the app to users for free in order to generate as much data as possible, with some tie-in to the proliferation of RSUs in cars and roadside that can communicate with V2X systems. Expectations for V2X adoptions in vehicles differ greatly, but estimates for 2026 seem to be for ~40m vehicles equipped with some form of V2X, and with 5G slowly becoming available, the ability of those systems to communicate with little latency are becoming a reality. No longer will you have to say, “I’m walkin’ here!” as your smartphone will say it for you and slow the car just enough to allow you to not miss that post on last night’s “The Bachelor” wardrobe mishap by being knocked over by a fast moving side view mirror.
We note that in order for a V2X-like system to operate effectively it must be in widespread use, which means it needs to be funded by both the government and private sources, and there needs to be an international strategy toward spectrum assigned to such systems. The FCC has recently began to open the 5.9GHz band to V2X, which is a first step, but that needs to be globalized or the cost of implementation will remain burdensome. As to the need for widespread use being a limiting factor, the example is, if 10% of cars are using the system, the chance of two equipped with V2X meeting would be ~1%. At 25% the chance would be 6.25%, and if 50% of cars were equipped, the chance would be 25%. Once the rate was above 70%, the chance of two cars with the system meeting would be over 50% (RATE2), so as is typical of many new CE product technologies, we have a chicken and egg scenario, with standards, cost, and funding the mitigating factors, although here, what could be more important than saving a life or getting the latest info on those 4” Aquazzura heels that just went on sale on ShopStyle (4755.JP)?
Trying to change the habits of those addicted to Twitter (TWTR) or Facebook (FB) is a moot point, so LG Electronics (066570.KS) has come up with a solution, an app called ‘Soft V2X’ that has now been modified from its original terminal based application to a smartphone app, and once the app is loaded, those city ramblers will be protected from the hordes of vehicles whose job is to get across an intersection just as the light changes. The application transmits the users current location, direction, and speed to the real-time cloud, where the server side application selects information about vehicle movement, traffic signals, and other relevant metrics, and evaluates the risk of collision. If that risk level reaches a set point, it warns the user with an overlay warning message, sound, and vibration.
The app is also able to detect the potential for collision between vehicles or pedestrians who do not have the app by accessing CCTV information and using AI to predict possible issues by making its own estimates of speed, direction, etc., and the system is also able to access RSU (Intelligent Roadside Units) information that is being added to traffic lights, light poles, and highway markers, in ‘smart’ cities, and combines camera and LIDAR information, making it an effective solution for traffic and pedestrian monitoring during adverse weather conditions or at night. The LGE system also has a ‘child’ mode, which alerts the user when there are children pedestrians nearby or when the user is entering a school zone or near a stopped school bus.
While V2X was originally designed as a control system for vehicles, the adaptation to mobile devices opens that up to billions of potential users, and while LG Electronics does not have an actual commercialization date yet, the thought is that they will give the app to users for free in order to generate as much data as possible, with some tie-in to the proliferation of RSUs in cars and roadside that can communicate with V2X systems. Expectations for V2X adoptions in vehicles differ greatly, but estimates for 2026 seem to be for ~40m vehicles equipped with some form of V2X, and with 5G slowly becoming available, the ability of those systems to communicate with little latency are becoming a reality. No longer will you have to say, “I’m walkin’ here!” as your smartphone will say it for you and slow the car just enough to allow you to not miss that post on last night’s “The Bachelor” wardrobe mishap by being knocked over by a fast moving side view mirror.
We note that in order for a V2X-like system to operate effectively it must be in widespread use, which means it needs to be funded by both the government and private sources, and there needs to be an international strategy toward spectrum assigned to such systems. The FCC has recently began to open the 5.9GHz band to V2X, which is a first step, but that needs to be globalized or the cost of implementation will remain burdensome. As to the need for widespread use being a limiting factor, the example is, if 10% of cars are using the system, the chance of two equipped with V2X meeting would be ~1%. At 25% the chance would be 6.25%, and if 50% of cars were equipped, the chance would be 25%. Once the rate was above 70%, the chance of two cars with the system meeting would be over 50% (RATE2), so as is typical of many new CE product technologies, we have a chicken and egg scenario, with standards, cost, and funding the mitigating factors, although here, what could be more important than saving a life or getting the latest info on those 4” Aquazzura heels that just went on sale on ShopStyle (4755.JP)?
LG Electronics Soft V2X System Layout - Source: LG Electronics
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