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From 'Quantified Self' To 'Quantified Car'

Posted by timothy on from the soon-the-game-will-be-mandatory dept.

waderoush writes "A San Francisco startup called Automatic Labs came out of stealth mode in March, offering a Bluetooth gadget that connects to your car's onboard data port and sends engine performance data to an app on your smartphone (iPhone only right now, Android coming this fall). Xconomy went on a test drive with Automatic's chief product officer and captured video of the system in action. The app chirps at you when it notices rough braking, aggressive acceleration, or speeding over 70 mph. It also keeps a record of your fuel economy and gives you a gamified 'driving score' to encourage more efficient driving habits and fuel savings. It's all a sign that that the ethic of ubiquitous mobile/cloud sensing and analytics that 'quantified selfers' are applying to their personal health and fitness is spilling over to neighboring areas of consumer technology, including transportation. The Automatic Link device costs $70 and will begin shipping in May." Along similar lines, the Kiwi Drive Green has been available for several years.

5 of 173 comments (clear)

  1. Seriously you can get VC money for this? by h4rr4r · · Score: 4, Informative

    This is what you can get VC money for?

    A $10 chinese ELM327 with bluetooth and some crappy software?

    Where do I find he suckers? I meant investors, where do I find investors?

  2. Same old same old .... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    get one of these

    Install this for free

    Or get the pro version for $5.

    does almost the same things for more than $50 less.

    The rest is just common sense and marketing hype.

    Then again, there are a lot of folks out there who need to spend money and have a "cool" app.....

  3. Thaaaaaat's what I wanted. by roc97007 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Something else chirping at me.

    Or, alternately, I already have a wife who notices rough braking, aggressive acceleration, or speeding over 70 mph, and she is more than willing to chirp at me about it.

    --
    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
  4. Re:Why would I want a "Nanny" app? by h4rr4r · · Score: 4, Informative

    So buy an electric car and be done with it.

    Go get a cheap bluetooth OBD2 adaptor, if it costs more than $15 shipped, it it too much. Then buy Torque for Android for $5.

  5. Re:Why would I want a "Nanny" app? by CanHasDIY · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Not to sound like a total douche but I try to drive as efficiently as possible.

    That's not being a douche; hell, it's commendable.

    Being a douche would be more along the lines of "I try to drive as efficiently as possible, and there needs to be a law that forces everyone else to drive the way I do."

    --
    An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese