Safer streets for pedestrians – Volkswagen tested a smart corner in Helsinki in SmashHit project

In Jätkäsaari, the Helsinki test-bed of smart mobility, Volkswagen experimented with their new technology in October as a part of the EU-funded research project SmashHit project. They wanted to see if street safety could be enhanced with a system that combines a camera view with a car’s GPS system of drivers, who gave their consent via SmashHit. 

Volkswagen is aiming to improve road safety in urban areas. One of their ideas is a safety system called Cornver View. It is a prototype that has been developed in the context of SmashHit, a EU-funded research project. The prototype is based on an installed road side unit (RSU), backend and a GPS-unit. The road side unit retrieves a digital twin of the traffic situation and delivers decentralized relevant safety data to nearby road users. It works as a digital mirror and can for example warn a driver and a pedestrian if they are in danger of colliding.

Volkswagen tested the prototype in Helsinki’s Jätkäsaari because previous mobility projects have worked there successfully. Forum Virium Helsinki, which is a member of the SmashHit consortium, knows well the contacts to the city departments and the permission customs of Helsinki so it was easy for Volkswagen to come. In Jätkäsaari, there are some tight corners and narrow streets with limited visibility, so the city was also interested in hearing feedback and solution suggestions. 

Road users to receive warnings

Another important part of the tested Corner View system is a flexible consent management system. With that, road users might share their GPS location to help enhance the traffic safety without being seen by the road site unit. Road users with given consent might be able to receive warnings to their devices, like an infotainment system or a smartphone. 

To achieve this, Volkswagen is exploring concepts of transferring scene understanding concepts from the domain of self driving cars to static CCTV cameras. The ambitious goal is to make such systems able to assist everyday road users by reducing the risk of dangerous traffic situations and keeping the privacy policies.  

The tests were part of the SmashHit project. The project contributes to the data economy by creating new and better services by using the data from the connected car. The aim is to assure a trusted and secure sharing of data streams from both personal and industrial platforms which are needed to build sectoral and cross-sectoral services, solve consumer consent and create fair rules to data exchange. In Helsinki, new solutions for consumer consent and secure data sharing will be tested in smart mobility. 

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