By : ASHISH K. TIWARI
MUMBAI :
Picture this. A biker meets with an accident and is rendered unconscious. Not much help is available on the spot. Every passing minute is precious and receiving medical aid is crucial; a delay could turn fatal or lead to a permanent disability. This is not a script for a scene in some Bollywood movie or a narrative for a television series on Netflix or Amazon Prime. On the contrary, it is a harsh reality that most Indian households are living with. Families have lost near and dear ones in road accidents because help didn’t arrive on time.
The story with 23-year old electronics engineer Prateek Kumar from Delhi isn’t very different, except that he was lucky to survive a near fatal accident while riding back home in November 2016. Saving lives became his life goal thereafter, which led to the birth of Vida Salvateur International Pvt Ltd (VSIPL). A company registered in 2018 under the government’s Startup India scheme; it’s name aligns with the founder’s vision with Vida standing for ‘Life’ in Spanish and Salvateur meaning ‘Saving’ in French.
After two years of hard work, which began while Prateek was still pursuing BTech at the Delhi College of Engineering (DCE), now Delhi Technological University (DTU), Vida Salvateur is set to launch a smart helmet and a [Chip-enabled] device that promises timely medical assistance in case a biker meets with an accident.
Christened ‘MotoBuddy’ the headgear uses a mix of right technology, hardware, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and Internet of Things (IoT) to accurately detect an accident and its intensity. If not deactivated within 30 seconds, it starts sending alerts to the nearest available hospital within a minute of the accident occuring.
“After 30 seconds of the accident occurring, the helmet triggers an alert to healthcare service providers listed on the MotoBuddy network along with the biker’s GPS location and other personal health-related conditions. This set of information helps the hospital administration to dispatch an ambulance with appropriate medical personnel and facilities on board,” says Kumar, Founder & Director, Vida Salvateur International Pvt Ltd (VSIPL).
Similar notifications are sent to family and friends listed as emergency numbers entered in the MotoBuddy mobile application that interact with the smart helmet’s chip-enabled device which is embedded in the helmet. According to Kumar, it was a conscious decision to make the smart chip enabled device a part of the helmet thereby promoting safe riding practices.
A lot of hard work has gone in transitioning the initially designed large circuit to a coin-sized smart chip enabled device that acts as a 'personal road safety assistant'. In fact, that’s how the brand name ‘MotoBuddy’ came about as well. Over a period of time, VSIPL plans to add a host of other capabilities and tech features making it a compelling road safety headgear.
Kumar says, the smart chip enabled device uses sensors that have been re-purposed and fine-tuned to learn and analyse the biker’s riding behaviour. The sensors are also capable of determining accidents from incidents of big jolts and bumps as a result of running into potholes and riding over irregularly shaped speed breakers on the road.
In fact, the ability of the sensors to accurately detect a road accident, thus avoiding a false alarm situation is the most unique feature. And cracking this has been the toughest part requiring numerous iterations and a lot of capital.
While Kumar used his expertise in software development, drones and IoT solutions, the concept also has backing from Manoj Saxena, the company's chief technology officer (CTO), a member of the core team, who has a PhD from IIT Delhi and Stanford University. Another noted expert and author of Business Parables, Venugopal Gupta, is a business advisor and mentor to the company leadership as well as a part of the core VSIPL team. The start-up has an employee strength of 18 people handling various operational functions.
Funding the smart helmet project that has already gulped in around Rs 25 lakh in capital expenditure so far, is another interesting story. Coming from a middle-class family, it was quite a challenge for Kumar to raise funds by himself for the project. Interestingly, Delhi Technological University (DTU) had invited requests for quotations (RFQs) for an attendance management software programme. Kumar participated in this RFQ and was chosen to deliver the project. Using his expertise, Kumar and his team developed the software and sold it to DTU which helped him raise the initial capital to kick-start work on the project while pursuing his graduation.
The smart helmet concept also received Rs 50,000 from Spark-up Idea Fund hosted by iCreate, the technology business incubation centre of the Gujarat Government. This was followed by a Rs 10 lakh grant under the Nidhi Prayas scheme of the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India. This money was received in July 2018 via IKP Eden, Bengaluru, which is India’s first hardware product incubator.
Vida Salvateur has already filed for patents on a host of applications that are unique to this smart helmet and the chip enabled device. “Our submissions for patent and intellectual property (IP) are pending hence, I am not at liberty to delve into the technology and related details associated with the innovation,” said Kumar.
Having conducted extensive trials over the past month, the MotoBuddy smart chip enabled device is now ready and awaits funding to the tune of Rs 90 lakh – Rs 1 crore to start commercial production.
Globally, a few versions of smart helmets are available in markets such as North America, Europe and Taiwan. These are however, skewed towards features like GPS navigation and video feeds from front and rear view cameras. Also offered are integrated speakers and microphones to make and receive calls, interact with virtual assistants like Siri, Google Assistant and Alexa, listen to music and noise controls among other features. Priced between $299 to $1,000 these are targeted at high end markets. The features tend to be distracting at times and can [also] lead to accidents.
Vida Salvateur plans to skip the cosmetics and focus on the necessities that deliver on the promise of saving lives. The company is looking at a pricing of Rs 2,500 per unit for its smart helmet that’ll come embedded with the smart chip enabled device. The idea, according to Kumar, is to make the headgear affordable and attractive enough for a large number of bikers. However, the smart helmets will be introduced in the second phase, targeting the first time buyers as well as those looking to replace their existing helmets.
In phase one, the company will hit the market with its smart chip enabled device. Priced at Rs 1,300, the chip enabled device can be easily attached to existing helmets used by bikers. Among other revenue streams are plans to use an AI-driven engine to provide users and their families with Advanced Driving Analytics (ADAs), a subscription-based offering that will be nominally priced.
Future plans include taking the smart helmet innovation to international markets. “A product available at an affordable price point will have takers in markets that are facing similar challenges. After establishing the MotoBuddy range in India, we will start working towards taking it to other Asian markets,” says Kumar.
(The writer is an independent business journalist and can be reached at ashishktiwari.1976@gmail.com)
