Advancements of Autonomous Driving: Interview with Chris Piche, Founder, and CEO of Smarter AI

The possibility of driverless vehicles is rapidly approaching thanks to developments in 5G technology. Between 2020 and 2025, the global market for driverless cars is projected to develop at a compound annual growth rate of 18.06 percent. 

The discussion of self-driving automobiles has been relegated to the back pages due to the recent media frenzy surrounding electric vehicles. Is it still a thing, then? Chris Piche joins us with his comments on the advancement of autonomous driving, including where we are and where we might be headed—at least temporarily—with a driver? 

The following interview with Chris Piche, Founder of Smarter AI, discusses what the future holds for autonomous driving. 

Hosts:  Don Armstrong, Michael Marrs, Konrad DeLong, Jeff Dziekan, Jim Nelson

Interviewer: 

Good morning, Chris.

Chris Piche: 

Good morning, guys. 

Interviewer: 

How are you? 

Chris Piche: 

Fantastic. Thanks for having me.

Interviewer: 

Chris is a computer scientist and technology entrepreneur, and is now the founder of Smarter AI. Is that correct? 

Chris Piche: 

That’s right. 

Interviewer: 

Tell me, first of all, so that everybody’s on the same page. What are we talking about, AI?

Chris Piche: 

AI stands for artificial intelligence. We make a software platform for AI cameras that see, listen, and understand what’s happening around them.

Interviewer: 

And is that, as you’re putting these in vehicles, is the plan to collect data and integrate with the vehicle safety system, or both?

Chris Piche: 

Both. Initially, the number one driver for installing AI cameras in vehicles today is for driving safety. Think about current problems like texting and driving, lane assist systems that remind drivers to pay attention and “keep it between the lines.” And then over time, we can use this to improve the operation of current transportation systems and plan better transportation systems tomorrow. 

Interviewer: 

None of this is a recording system for crashes, correct?

Chris Piche: 

One of our vehicle camera features is exoneration. You can think about Smarter AI as a software platform for cameras, as Android and iOS are for smartphones. And in the same way that we configure our smartphones to enable and disable different features, some Smarter AI customers may choose to record what we call dynamic events: collisions, near collisions, and other harsh driving events, while other customers may choose not to record these events.

Interviewer: 

And the data you’re recording, including, I’m assuming, the video of what the camera is watching, is that recorded at your location? Or is it shared with the auto manufacturer, or is it shared with police and fire?

Chris Piche: 

Camera data – including but not limited to video – can be recorded on our cameras or in our cloud, and it can also be exported to third-party systems.  Whether or not this data is exported to third-party systems is controlled by each of our customers.

Interviewer: 

And that data, you’re also collecting serial data on the vehicle?

Chris Piche: 

We collect audio, video, and any data from sensors built into our cameras. For example, many cameras have a GPS and accelerometer. And our vehicle cameras can also communicate with a vehicle’s CAN bus to collect vehicle data.

Interviewer: 

Well, you can look at how fast the vehicle was going, where the brakes are applied while holding a steering wheel. Do you provide that information like a trial in a court system, or are you an expert witness in some of these things? Have you ever done that?

Chris Piche: 

Our vehicle cameras can  provide this data to our customers, who then decide how best to use this data. In general, our customers use this data to increase transportation safety – to be proactive rather than reactive, hopefully to not end up in court and need an expert witness, but instead, to identify driving habits that could lead to collisions, then correct these habits before  any collision. One important thing we’ve learned is that there are approximately 100 near collisions for every actual collision. And so, by understanding when and why these near collisions are happening, Smarter AI delivers valuable data that our customers can use to increase their driving safety.

Interviewer: 

I see this is geared toward a commercial application where, for instance, Amazon would buy your system to keep track of their vehicle and drivers?

Chris Piche: 

Yes, that’s right. your target market is commercial vehicle fleets in the public and private sectors. 

Interviewer: 

In other words, if Don Armstrong Plumbing Services, got 50 Vans loaded up with plumbing supplies and kept having this one guy get in all of these accidents, I can figure out what pretty much is going on –  what he’s doing or not doing. 

Chris Piche: 

Hopefully, we’ll find a few near collisions before Don has any collision, to help Don Armstrong Plumbing Services drive a little safer. 

Interviewer: 

Do you supply the equipment and the software?

Chris Piche: 

Yes, just as you can also buy smartphones running Android or iOS from Google or Apple.  Smarter AI also supplies vehicle camera systems.

Interviewer: 

Do you also have the customer because it’s interesting to me to sign so, my kind of a privacy agreement with you on the data you’re collecting because that data could be valuable on multiple levels? How does the customer protect themselves from you?

Chris Piche: 

You’re right, we have a privacy policy that all our customers must agree to before using our platform and cameras. Essentially, our privacy policy guarantees personal data privacy, such as linking a driver to a car or identifying a driver.  But the policy enables us to use data collected from our platform and cameras to improve our system.

Interviewer: 

Fascinating. Well, it only makes sense. Well, I think of many things that would be applicable here. Can you drill it down to say, for instance, if I’ve got my fleet of vehicles, and Konrad works for me, and he’s driving one of the vans I own at 100 miles an hour down the freeway? Can I make it so that he has to log into the vehicle so I know that it’s him and he’s in the car behind the wheel, or do I have to keep track of that myself?

Chris Piche: 

Our platform can help you to keep track of this. Some of our vehicle cameras are equipped with RFID to identify a driver who swipes an RFID card. Other cameras  may be equipped with facial recognition to identify a driver without any RFID card.

Interviewer: 

With that, you’re not only doing external cameras, but you’re also doing internal cameras that watch the driver, or is that just an option?

Chris Piche: 

Smarter AI supports many different vehicle camera form factors, which can be equipped with anywhere from 1 to about 20 imagers. And so, depending on the vehicle size and how a customer would like to use them, our vehicle cameras can be equipped with cabin-facing imagers. Cabin-facing imagers may see drivers, passengers, or even cargo within their field of view.  Our vehicle cameras  may also be equipped with road-facing imagers to see in front, behind the vehicle, or even beside a vehicle for lane markers,   traffic signs, and other vehicles and pedestrians.

Interviewer:

 Have you done any integration with school districts yet?

Chris Piche: 

We’re just moving into the public sector, and school buses are an important vehicle category. We’ve done buses, including autonomous buses, and now school buses might be next. 

Interviewer: 

Again, privacy issues would pop up on the school buses. But what a great opportunity it would be to observe the driving habits of a bus driver, and those around the car, the bus that isn’t stopping for the stop sign, and then have some kind of reporting system built in for people. Do you see vehicle manufacturers going in the direction of installing from the factory, a camera system, both forward and reverse, so we can see what’s going on inside the vehicle? Do you see that happening soon?

Chris Piche: 

That’s already happening today. I’m on my fifth or sixth Tesla car, and they’ve already got 10 to 20 cameras in each car, including cameras inside the vehicle cabin. But as our audience knows, the lifecycle for designing a new vehicle is on the order of 5 years. I can tell you that all vehicle manufacturers have systems like this, if not in production, under development.

Interviewer: 

And with the factory imagers and data, can your system integrate using the vehicle’s existing imagers?

Chris Piche: 

Yes, exactly. Smarter AI supports both what we call aftermarket and OEM vehicle camera systems. An aftermarket camera system would be a dashcam, whereas an OEM camera system would be built into the vehicle during manufacturing.

Interviewer:

 You’ve thought about this for a while I have that feeling.

Chris Piche: 

We’ve been working on this for about four years – I founded Smarter AI about four years ago.  e first brought our product to market two years ago, and we’ve worked with aftermarket and OEM vehicle cameras for the last two years. 

Interviewer: 

Chris, what is your background? How did you gain all of this knowledge? You’re a smart guy.

Chris Piche: 

Well, I’m originally from Canada. I grew up on the main streets of Ottawa. 

Interviewer: 

Do you know Dante? I don’t think anyone knows Dante. Go ahead.

Chris Piche:

 I have a background in math and computer science, and before I got into camera software, I developed software platforms for communication systems. One of the more high-profile systems I have developed, north of the Canadian border, was for a Canadian company called BlackBerry – I developed the voice and video calling platform for BlackBerry smartphones. And then I developed something that I’m sure our is familiar with called Football on your Phone. Do you remember the series of TV commercials featuring the Manning brothers? AT&T introduced television programming on your mobile phone. I developed that product before I graduated to camera software about four years ago.

Interviewer: 

Before we get too far gone, I’ve just been wondering about the internal cameras you put inside the car, the imagers, do you put them in the backseat?

Chris Piche: 

They can be. Our software platform supports cameras with up to about 20 imagers. And we support a wide range of vehicle camera form factors and configurations because of all the different classes and sizes  of commercial vehicles. And so we certainly support a backseat of a small or medium-sized vehicle or even a passenger cabin of a larger vehicle like a bus. 

Interviewer: 

Or a limo. I was thinking about a limo also.

Chris Piche: 

Absolutely.

Interviewer: 

You’re probably thinking about something else you’d say right now, but we know where this is going. When did I was just wondering when I checked my Blackberry fix. Well, Chris, we find this extremely interesting and brilliant. And then congratulations on the success of your business. Where do we find more information about Smarter AI?

Chris Piche: 

You can find us on the web. Our website is https://smarterai.camera.  And you can find us on LinkedIn at SmarterAI and on Twitter at SmarterAICamera.

Interviewer:

 Chris, it’s great to talk to you. Thanks so much for joining us today. Stay in touch, and let us know what’s happening with your company.

Chris Piche: 

Thanks for having me on, guys. I look forward to coming back.

Interviewer: 

Excellent. Thank you, Chris Piche, from Smarter AI https://smarterai.camera.

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