If I was to say Sat-Nav, most of you would know exactly what I am talking about. You would also know how irritating it is to try to use when driving etc. Of course, using your Sat-Nav whilst driving is not recommended, so, you are pretty much at ransom to your Sat-Nav’s wishes until you can pull over.
Time for a design change and, as luck would have it, a new contender has entered the arena.
I doubt you will have heard of it yet but Exploride was launched on Indiegogo the crowdsourcing website, and, is already the biggest crowdfunding success story of a startup to come out of India. Exploride raised over US$500,000 in 40 days and may very well revolutionise the sat-nav standards.
The Exploride unit itself is a transparent Heads-Up-Display (HUD) that will comfortably sit on your dashboard, allowing you to see maps, take calls, play music, change the volume and read texts without looking away from the road at any time; you control it all with gestures and voice.
The device itself is standalone and is powered by a quad-core processor. This can also double up as a Wi-Fi hotspot in your car. The device includes a camera that will recognise gestures; this lets you do things like swipe left to take a call, or swipe up to raise the volume for example.
The Exploride itself will set you back US$299 to pre-order on Indiegogo which converts to £196. They have gained a massive interest across the world and the cheaper, early-bird offer has already sold out.
The idea of the device originated in Kerala, India by its founder, Sunil Vallath. It is now registered in The District of Columbia, USA and is being manufactured in Taiwan; expect it to hit the shops by January 2016.