Vaisala Xweather and NIRA Dynamics are first to release an integrated data set which connects road weather forecasts and computer vision observations with real-time connected car data, setting a new standard for data-driven road safety and maintenance.
The integration draws on NIRA Dynamics' expansive data from billions of data points gathered from connected vehicles, paired with Vaisala Xweather's advanced AI and ML-based road weather forecasting models, which achieve accuracy levels 50 higher than those of publicly available forecasts.
The future of driving is going to be heavily dependent on more accurate and real-time road weather and road condition data as the availability of autonomous and assisted driving features are highly influenced by the driving conditions. Currently, as seen on many Electric Vehicles EV, the assisted driving functionalities are disconnected to secure driver safety based on crude weather and road condition estimations, such as temperature drop to under 4 degrees Celsius or change in tire rolling resistance.
Real-time data from connected vehicles on tire grip, road friction, surface quality, and weather conditions combined with leading industry-specific weather forecasts, the aggregated data set has multiple use cases already today. This offers significant practical uses today, including reducing accident likelihood by expanding the availability of autonomous and assisted driving features in adverse road and weather conditions, assessing road quality with computer vision to optimize maintenance efforts, and reducing resource usage - such as minimizing winter road salt application. The benefits extend to all road users, from improved safety and reduced environmental impact to cost savings for road authorities and municipalities.
By integrating NIRA Dynamics connected vehicle data into Vaisala Xweather's platform, this partnership creates opportunities for future advancements in road safety and autonomous driving. The combined data opens doors to further applications such as EV range optimization, traffic management, insurance risk assessments, and reducing accident rates.
