Image recognition technology to enable the future of personal transportation post Covid19

2019冠状病毒病大流行导致了一系列持久的生活方式改变，包括大规模采用替代的个人交通工具，以满足腾出公共交通空间和保持社交距离的需要。今年4月，自行车销量飙升了60%，政府为此在全国范围内投资了2亿多英镑，用于未来的各种交通计划。在地方层面，地方议会正在试行新的“低交通街区”计划，并向微型交通运营商开放招标。成功采用替代交通方式，特别是共享交通和微型交通，需要立即在软件、硬件和基础设施方面进行创新，以建设面向未来的城市，并鼓励新的市场进入者。共享出行公司进入和发展的一个重要障碍是巨大的车辆维护成本，占每次出行成本的10%，单个运营商每年的成本估计为450万美元（Bird年度报告）。另一方面，从用户的角度来看，采用的一个障碍是担心潜在的成本和缺乏透明度，如果他们损坏了车辆或被错误收费。在一项针对2000多名英国租车司机的研究中，近三分之一的人没有意识到他们必须支付高达租赁协议中超额金额的损坏费用。此外，被损坏的车辆留在道路或人行道上，使人们更加关注城市街道的可达性，特别是残疾人群体的可达性。在这个项目中，Captur将开发独特的图像识别算法，可以自动识别车辆的损坏情况，并确定损坏是否在合理的磨损范围内。导致一个公正和一致的第三方系统来诊断车辆损坏。关键目标是在2019冠状病毒病后帮助采用和快速增长新型个人交通工具。从长远来看，这项创新也有可能延长微型机动车辆的平均寿命、可持续性和可达性。

The Covid19 pandemic has caused a series of lasting lifestyle changes, including the mass adoption of alternative forms of personal transport in response to the need to free up space on public transport and enable social distancing. Bike sales spiked in April by 60% and the government has responded by investing over £200 million in various future transportation schemes at a national level. At a local level, council's are piloting new Low Traffic Neighbourhood schemes and opening up tenders for micro mobility operators.The successful adoption of alternative forms of transportation, specifically shared and micro mobility, requires immediate innovation across software, hardware, and infrastructure to build cities for the future and encourage new market entrants. A significant barrier to entry and growth for shared mobility companies is the huge operational cost of vehicle maintenance, representing 10% of the cost per trip and an estimated $4.5 million annually for a single operator (Bird annual report).On the other hand, a barrier to adoption from a user perspective is the fear of the potential costs and lack of transparency if they do damage a vehicle or are wrongly charged. In one study of over 2,000 UK hire car drivers, almost a third don't realise they have to pay damage costs up to the excess amount on their rental agreement. Furthermore, damaged vehicles left on roads or sidewalks cause an even greater concern for the accessibility of city streets, especially for disabled groups.In this project, Captur will develop unique image recognition algorithms that can automatically identify damage to vehicles and determine whether or not that damage is within fair wear and tear guidelines. Resulting in an impartial and consistent third party system to diagnose vehicle damage.The key objective is to aid in the adoption and rapid market growth of new forms of personal transportation post Covid19\. Long term, the innovation also has the potential to extend the average lifetime, sustainability, and accessibility of micro mobility vehicles.