I鈥檓 cruising the wide boulevards of Las Vegas with Matt Ginsberg, inventor of EnLighten, a smartphone app that can supposedly predict when red lights will turn green.
I鈥檓 sceptical until we hit our first red light, whereupon the app displays a countdown and a voice says 鈥渁t least 60 seconds鈥�. The prediction 鈥� based on analysing real-time traffic data 鈥� turns out to be a few seconds off, but I鈥檓 nevertheless impressed that it appears to work.
Ginsberg, chief executive of Green Drive, is showing off the free app this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. EnLighten feeds off real-time traffic data supplied by cities, then uses a phone鈥檚 GPS and accelerometer to determine its user鈥檚 location and velocity.
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When it detects that its driver鈥檚 car has stopped, it combines the location information with current traffic data and generates a prediction for how long the stoppage will be. The traffic light systems in many cities are dynamic and alter depending on the real traffic situation. A few seconds before the green light is set to appear, the app 鈥� for iOS and Android 鈥� sounds a chime to alert the driver, who can then re-focus his or her attention appropriately.
Green Driver has so far signed up nine towns and cities. In Oregon, Portland and Ginsberg鈥檚 home town of Eugene are both involved. Also on the list are Pasadena, Arcadia and San Jose in California, Salt Lake City and Provo in Utah, Garland in Texas, and Las Vegas, although both Las Vegas and San Jose have requested that the app remain in a test phase until further results can be assessed. Ginsberg鈥檚 goal is to have 50 cities on board by the end of the year.
He hopes that his app will make sitting at the lights a more pleasant experience. 鈥淚f I want to talk to you, I can talk to you. You鈥檙e not always doing that thing you do when you鈥檙e at a red light, where you鈥檙e constantly checking to see if it鈥檚 changing,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t also doesn鈥檛 seem as long because you can see the progress.鈥�
Ginsberg aims to sell his patented technology to car-makers, so that it can be built into cars. That would avoid draining smartphone batteries and allow for integration into other car systems.
