Using parked cars as a service delivery platform

IBM believe that vehicle batteries, sensors and on-board computers can do more than help navigate roads, reports the ITS Review. The idea of integrating parked cars into a local technology infrastructure began with the realization that cars spend 95% of their lives parked. IBM gathered data in Dublin and found the city center was consistently packed with cars most days and with large numbers of cars remaining at a specific location for extended periods of time, researchers saw the chance to leverage the parked car's electronic components for other purposes. These included;

• Car batteries coupled with Bluetooth technology could reduce the power consumption of mobile devices and smart phones by offloading network connectivity to a GSM module in the parked car. When the device user came in range, the GSM module managed the connection.
• Mobile device processing work could be transferred to a parked car’s CPU when a mobile device came in range of the parked car network.
• On-board vehicle sensors could take on new roles; e.g. sensors could help locate a vulnerable person who was wearing a Bluetooth bracelet.
• Vehicle data storage designed for multimedia and entertainment could make content available for sharing. For example, parked cars could create a WiFi backbone that delivered content stored in vehicles e.g. information, maps and advertisements to a user’s mobile device.

The IBM research teams in Dublin and Zurich are actively involved in scoping the feasibility of the parked car platform in collaboration with local government, transportation and automotive industries. Hopefully trials will follow.

http://www.its-ukreview.org/using-parked-cars-as-a-service-delivery-platform/