New device aims to help drivers find their car

Wednesday, August 12, 2015
New device Aware Car helps drivers find their car
Local entrepreneurs created a new device called Aware Car that helps drivers find their car and remind them to set a timer when parked at a meter to avoid getting parking tickets.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A group of entrepreneurs came up with new technology to help people find their car.



Some people say they can't remember where they parked sometimes. "I myself have lost my car many times in multilevel parking garages," AwareStack CEO Dani Rayan said.



Most drivers can relate to this problem. "Getting off of elevators and walking around different floors to find my car or using the beeper," Judy Cantwell said.



Rayan and AwareStack Chief Technology Officer Drew Bratcher knew there had to be a better way, so they created Aware Car, a device that is known as a bluetooth beacon.



If you've walked past an Apple store, you may have noticed a pop up and that's from a beacon. "Retailers are using this to push ads to you whenever you walk past their stores. It's the same kind of tech, but instead of ads we make things useful," Rayan said.



Their app, called Aware Car, knows when you've walked away from the beacon, meaning you've gotten out of the car.



It automatically saves your location even inside a garage. "The barometer and pedometer and accelerometers, which we can tap into that information and figure out which floor you're on," Bratcher said.



Aware Car can tell when you're parked at a meter and it'll remind you to set a timer, so you don't get a ticket. In addition to that, the device also warns you about street cleaning.



There are other devices that do all that and more like the $99 Automatic or the devices by Given Away by Metromile Insurance.



Aware Car has a different business model because the device is priced at only $9.



Rayan and Bratcher hope many people will eventually buy a few of them.



The entrepreneurs are working on apps to track your bicycle, automate your home, and your desk.



They're pre-selling on Kickstarter and plan to ship in the fall.