La Repubblica – Human-vehicle interface

Viber Alert quoted among the most interesting Italian startups at CES25 by Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica.

Read the article on Repubblica Online by Alessio Jacona on 8. January 2025:

https://www.repubblica.it/tecnologia/2025/01/10/news/ces_2025_le_tre_startup_italiane_che_ci_hanno_incuriosito_di_piu-423930623

When riding a motorcycle, paying attention to the road is everything: without the protection offered by the passenger compartment of a car, looking down and being distracted by the warning lights on the dashboard or by smartphone notifications can have unpleasant consequences. Therefore, a system capable of informing the driver without making him take his eyes off the road is needed. You could think of a voice message system integrated with the helmet, but generally the noise of the wind tends to cover any audio as soon as you gain a little speed.

Or you can do like Vincenzo Maresca: after being in a car accident, the founder of the startup Viber Alert had the idea of ​​inserting a haptic feedback system inside a saddle that in turn is connected directly to the motorcycle’s control unit and an app that manages its main functions. The principle is the same as, for example, when, writing on the digital keyboard of an Android smartphone, you feel the device vibrate to confirm that you have pressed a letter.

“The point is to make you lower your gaze only when it’s really necessary, that is, when a vital warning light comes on, such as one that detects engine or tire problems,” explains Maresca, “or to warn you that you forgot to turn the indicator on without making you take your eyes off the road.” Looking at the prototype, mounted on a demonstration frame, the doubt arises that the normal vibrations of the motorcycle can cover the “talking” ones of the device: “The saddle is tested on my Harley Davidson, which vibrates like a steam train,” jokes the CEO of Viber Alert, “and I can guarantee that you can hear everything well.”

Thanks to the app that the startup is developing, for example, it is possible to adjust the intensity of the vibration, as well as transmit some notifications from the smartphone to the saddle; these also include the navigator’s instructions for turning right or left, which the saddle interprets by vibrating only on one side or the other. If the motorbike has a system that detects obstacles, the haptic feedback vibrates in an even different way, drawing the driver’s attention to what is in front of him. We tried it, and it really seems to work. Made up of four partners, the startup Viber Alert was founded in June 2023 and has already won Smart&Start funding from the European Community.

https://www.repubblica.it