Forget all the warnings your mother gave you about getting into a car with a stranger. A German technology institute developed an application that allows spontaneous carpooling for anyone with a mobile phone.
OpenRide, from the Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems, instantly matches drivers with ride-seekers and vice-versa. Walking from lunch to work when storm clouds start gathering overhead? Simply request a ride on your phone. Directions to your exact location will be transmitted to a nearby driver, the proverbial friendly stranger in the black sedan.
"OpenRide links mobile terminals with navigation and route planning software to automatically organize ridesharing opportunities," project manager Dr. Matthias Flügge said in a statement. "The system opens up a new market because there is no provision at present for the typical spontaneous and shorter trips that take place in local everyday traffic."
OpenRide takes the place of the previous method of hitching a ride, an outdated technology known as "the outstretched thumb."
Previously, carpooling required planning and a substantial lead time for a driver and passenger to connect -- not to mention an awkward request from a coworker who kinda sorta lives on your way home anyway. With OpenRide, offers for an ad hoc carpool are displayed in real time along with potential pick-up and drop-off times.
The system relies on the OpenRide server, which uses intelligent route mapping in order to play matchmaker between driver and passenger. Need to run to the ATM? The software will take that into account. Ride-seeker headed from New York to LA but your journey ends in Chicago? Offer a partial journey.
Right now the only thing differentiating potential OpenRiders from creepy van owners is technique: OpenRide users will attract carpooling buddies with a mobile phone, while van owners will rely on the magnetism of their idling, windowless Econolines. That will change when the program's creators equip OpenRide with a rating system and user profiles, which will hopefully include categories for body odor and unwanted flirtation.
The technology is currently on display at the IFA international consumer electronics exhibition in Berlin, though its creators say it'll be ready for prime time next year after initial field trials with business partners. The system will be device independent, meaning that Palm Pre and iPhone users alike can hitch a ride.
Photo: Fraunhofer-Gessellschaft.
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