Ride Vision is launching globally the first collision-avoidance technology for motorcycles, an AI-based system for motorcycle safety. Ride Vision is buttressed by $7 million in Series A funding, totalling $10 million to-date, as well as a partnership with Continental AG.

There are more than 700 million motorcycles on the road around the world, which account for 28% of all fatal road accidents, and cost for some countries up to 4.1% of the domestic GDP, each year. Moreover, as the pandemic has reduced public transit use, people are considering motorcycles and other motorized two-wheeled vehicles as viable alternatives, with two-wheeled vehicle sales rising by 30% on average across the EU during COVID-19.

Ride Vision uses a combination of image-recognition and AI technologies to power its solution. The company’s patented human-machine warning interface (HMI) and predictive vision algorithms help riders make critical life-saving decisions in real time.

The hardware includes two wide-angle cameras mounted on both the front and rear of the vehicle, unique alert indicators placed on the mirrors, and an onboard main computing unit that stores Ride Vision’s patented algorithms. Together, they deliver:

• 360-enhanced safety: Riders are given forward collision, distance-keeping (proximity), blindspot, and dangerous overtake alerts via the indicators located on their mirrors, saving precious seconds that make a difference between an accident and arriving safe to their destination. Ride Vision’s distance-keeping alert makes sure riders maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front of them, regardless the speed of travel, while collision alerts account for road conditions, time to impact, and vehicle speed.

• Ride data recording: Within the Ride Vision app, users can access ride summaries, which contain cumulative reports, including total distance, total alerts, and max speed data. This data can be exported for personal use, such as fuel-consumption calculations or even insurance-rate reduction inquiries. The data is stored on the riders’ mobile device and is not being shared with anyone else.

• Product roadmap: Since Ride Vision is a technology platform, periodical upgrades will be made available with new safety alerts and features like the Emergency Call (eCall) following an accident, Forward-Side Collision, Rear Collision Alerts, and even creating videos with embedded riding stats to share with friends.

Ride Vision’s board of advisors includes a number of automotive industry veterans, namely Continental Head of Advanced Engineering ADAS Christian Weber; former BMW-Motorrad Executive VP of Motorcycle Engineering, Prof. Karl Viktor Schaller; and Energica Motor Company S.p.A., CEO Livia Cevolini.

The company’s products will be available in Italy, Germany, Austria, Spain, France, Greece, Israel, and the UK starting in early 2021. Its products will also be available in the US and Brazil, Canada, Australia, Japan, India, China, and others.