Bird Announces Suite of Technology Solutions to Meet City Needs
Five Products Designed to Support Safety and Mobility
MIAMI–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Bird Global, Inc. (NYSE:BRDS), a leader in environmentally friendly electric transportation, today announced a suite of technology solutions designed to meet the needs of its city partners. The new technologies are designed and integrated into the Bird rider experience in order to encourage safe and compliant riding and parking.
“To achieve our mission of providing eco-friendly transportation to all, it’s critical that we continue to invest in technology and product solutions that meet the needs of our city partners,” said Shane Torchiana, CEO, Bird. “We’ve come a long way since we started this category in 2017, but still have a great deal more to do; by making it easier to find a scooter, park a scooter, ride compliantly, and do so safely, we’ll continue advancing access to micromobility in hundreds of communities around the world.”
Bird’s new product solutions include:
Global Google Maps Integration: To incentivize mode shift away from cars and into more sustainable options, it’s critical that people can easily see when a shared electric scooter is available nearby. Following two years of success in the United States, Bird is now integrating into Google Maps across Canada and Europe, as well. Soon, riders in these regions will be able to see Bird vehicle locations within Google Maps.
Enhanced Bird Visual Parking System: After first unveiling the technology in May 2022, Bird is enhancing its Visual Parking System, powered by Google’s ARCore Geospatial API to better guide riders to designated parking locations. The technology enables Bird to geo-localize parked scooters and e-bikes with pinpoint accuracy by leveraging years of Google 3D scanning, augmented reality (AR) technology and Street View data from around the world. When a rider has finished a ride, they will be prompted to scan their surroundings using the camera on their smartphone. Using both augmented reality and a new dynamic map of the area, riders are guided to designated parking spots nearby using wayfinding guidance in their Bird app, helping ensure cleaner sidewalks and a smoother rider experience. This technology is specifically suited to dense urban cores, and is currently live in California (on the UCLA campus and in San Diego), Tel Aviv, Malaga, Rome, Perth, and Vienna.
Rider Age Verification: Leveraging Amazon AWS Rekognition, Bird is rolling out a new age verification tool in select cities around the U.S. to allow riders to verify that they are of the locally permitted age to rent and ride a scooter. When initiating a ride, U.S. riders are prompted to scan a government issued-ID. If they prefer, they will be able to select another method to verify their identity, including a selfie. Using AI technology, a rider’s selfie is then analyzed to estimate their estimated age range. If the lower limits of their age range are not above the legally permitted age, they will be prompted to verify their age using a government-issued ID. This solution provides the smoothest rider experience by providing choice in verification methods, and also provides a potential solution if the rider does not have a government-issued ID, helping expand equitable access to transportation.
In addition to these three technologies already available in markets around the world, two additional technologies are in development and will be launched this year:
Double Riding Detection: Two people on a single scooter poses safety risks to both the riders and passersby. Bird scooters will soon be able to detect if there are two riders on a single vehicle and if so, send alerts to the rider, helping facilitate a safer ride experience.
Camera-Equipped Vehicles: As Bird continues to invest in best-in-class vehicles, the company has begun testing camera-equipped e-scooters to better support computer vision technologies, including parking and lane detection. This will also offer enhanced sidewalk riding detection, building on Bird’s current location-based sidewalk riding detection solution, which is available in select cities including San Diego, California; Ottawa, Ontario; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Reno, Nevada.
For more information about riding with Bird, visit go.bird.co
About Bird
Bird is an electric vehicle company dedicated to bringing affordable, environmentally friendly transportation solutions such as e-scooters and e-bikes to communities across the world. Founded in 2017 by transportation pioneer Travis VanderZanden, Bird’s cleaner, affordable, and on-demand mobility solutions are available in more than 350 cities, primarily across the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia. We take a collaborative, community-first approach to micromobility. Bird partners closely with the cities in which it operates to provide a reliable and affordable transportation option for people who live and work there.
Forward-Looking Statements
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