Tactile Mobility, previously known as Mobiwize, the leading tactile data company for the transportation industry, announced the official launch of its tactile sensing and data analytics platform. The launch includes the announcement of five paid POCs, additional funds which bring the company’s total funding to $9 million, and the appointment of CEO Amit Nisenbaum, former Head of Strategic Alliances at Better Place Inc.
Ninety-five percent of data currently used by smart and autonomous vehicles is visual. However, for them to mimic and even surpass human driving capabilities, these vehicles must, like human drivers, not only see the road but also “feel” it. Tactile Mobility is pioneering the tactile sensing space with its unique software which collects “first order” data using a vehicle’s built in, non-visual sensors including wheel speed, wheel angle, RPM, paddles position, gear position, and then analyze it to yield actionable insights in real-time.
These actionable insights, are subsequently fed back to the vehicle’s on-board computers, where it is used to make better driving decisions. Concurrently, the data collected is anonymized and uploaded from the vehicles to the cloud, where big data analysis is applied to create crowd-sourced mapping that is critical for enabling an accurate, continually updated overview of road conditions.
Tactile Mobility’s mapping service has been launched by the city of Haifa and the company has already collected over ten million kilometers of road data across four continents with plans to roll out in several other cities in the coming months. In addition, the company has signed paid Proof of Concepts (POCs) with five major OEMs, one of which is Ford. Two Request for Proposals (RFPs) were also signed with major European OEMs.
“When you drive you can feel the tires as they slip on ice, or sense the engine is having trouble despite it not registering with your car’s vision-based electronic systems,” said Amit Nisenbaum, CEO of Tactile Mobility. “This missing tactile sense is a major hurdle in the development of advanced and autonomous vehicles and a significant limitation when it comes to mapping road condition data that has been ignored until now. We’re excited to pioneer these services and are encouraged by the remarkable traction we’ve already gained. We look forward to continuing to play a significant role in shaping the future of these industries.”
Mr. Nisenbaum joins Tactile Mobility from his prior position as a venture advisor, where he actively supported high-growth companies on commercialization aspects. He also served as Head of Strategic Alliances at Better Place, where he built and led a team which spearheaded Better Place’s partnerships with leading, large, commercial partners such as GE. During his time with the Boston Consulting Group, Amit led strategy consulting teams advising boards and top management teams of Fortune 500 companies in the technology space.
“We’ve managed to build some incredible technology that will have a monumental impact on ride safety, efficiency and experience,” said Tactile Mobility Founder and CTO Boaz Mizrachi. “With Amit joining our team, a more educated market vis-a-vis the importance of tactile data, a slew of paid POCs and partnerships and $9 million in funding, we’re transitioning from great concept to large-scale tech standard and that’s a win for companies and consumers alike.”