54ward Ford Fusion Police Car featured in Police Fleet Manager Magazine
The most recent issue of Police Fleet Manager Magazine features the 54ward Urban Patrol Ford Fusion police prototype vehicle. We built this vehicle to demonstrate how our advanced integration technology can assist in the usability, safety and performance of emergency equipment in an ever-shrinking vehicle environment. The vehicle has our standard touch screen and voice controls of all functions (lights, radar, radio, etc) as well as fully configurable steering wheel controls. In addition we performed a large number of customizations to the vehicle to make it patrol ready (custom dash, console, rubber floor, seats, etc).
54ward, in cooperation with several corporate partners, previewed an advanced integration “Urban Patrol” Concept Vehicle at the 2009 Police Fleet Expo in Milwaukee. Based on a 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid, this concept highlights 54ward’s ability to create a fully functional “non-traditional” law enforcement patrol vehicle on a more fuel efficient chassis than previously offered to the police market.
Project54 NYT article
They are the most wired vehicles on the road, with dashboard computers, sophisticated radios, navigation systems and cellphones.
While such gadgets are widely seen as distractions to be avoided behind the wheel, there are hundreds of thousands of drivers — police officers and paramedics — who are required to use them, sometimes at high speeds, while weaving through traffic, sirens blaring.
The drivers say the technology is a huge boon for their jobs, saving valuable seconds and providing instant access to essential information. But it also presents a clear risk — even the potential to take a life while they are trying to save one.
TTS in Police Vehicles
By · CommentsI received a couple of comments on one of my YouTube videos (shown below), questioning why we use old Microsoft Text-to-speech engines in 54ward’s police car control systems.
People often inquire about the “voice” that we use to relay information to the officer. Most people point out that the voice sounds robotic and too much like a computer. I agree with them, but I think a less natural sounding voice for a police car application is a good thing. Let me explain….
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54ward shown at 2009 LA Auto Show
By · Comments54ward’s software will be shown at the 2009 LA Auto Show. General Motor’s will feature the Chevy Caprice PPV concept car equipped with the 54ward Patrol Screen. The show runs December 4-13 but below are some advanced photos to give you a preview of how this exciting new car will be presented.
It took some last minute scrambling to make sure our software made it into the car for the show. Luckily the night before Thanksgiving, I looked at my blackberry one more time on my way to bed and saw that we needed help. Even more luck, my wife was exhausted from prepping her Thanksgiving feast. It was only a matter of minutes before she fell asleep and I was able to sneak back to my office unnoticed. I was able to work for a couple hours to help get this car ready for the show. On top of that I was still welcome at the table the following day for Thanksgiving. That’s a win win.
Thanks to everyone else who helped make this happen over the holiday.
Chevy Caprice PPV 2009 LA Auto Show
Chevy Caprice PPV interior at 2009 LA Auto Show
SpeechTek 2009
By · CommentsWhile attending SpeechTek 2009 recently in NYC, I had the chance to catch the keynote address by Jeffery Rayport. Jeffery is the Founder and Chairman of Marketspace, LLC, & Author. He gave a very enthusiastic speech on the importance of improving service interfaces with customers. Jeffery shared a number of important things to think about in this arena as well as a number of videos to emphasize his points. One video in particular was a funny commercial about a fake German Coast Guard rookie officer that showed how things can go wrong by not understanding exactly what the customer is looking for via your service interface. It can also be used to show the challenges of developing accurate speech recognition systems for different dialects.
54ward software shown in Chevy Caprice PPV
By · CommentsGM unveiled the new Chevy Caprice PPV this week. The car looks to be an exciting addition to the police vehicle market. I was happy to see the computer shown in the Chevy Caprice press shots was running 54ward’s software. The 54ward Patrol Screen GUI was shown in a number of shots that have been appearing around the world including one of my favorite sites Jalopnik.com.
This is not the first time that a police vehicle has been launched with help from the famous Patrol Screen GUI. Back when the Dodge Charger police package was first announced by Chrysler, they included multiple photos of a computer with a visible Patrol Screen in their press package including the one that is shown below.
Eric Estrada stops by 54ward booth at IACP
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I would like to thank Eric Estrada for stopping by the 54ward booth multiple times at IACP. Chips was always one of my favorite shows. It was fun showing “Ponch” how far we have brought police technology from his days “on patrol”. Maybe for next year’s Police Fleet Expo we should have Harlan Arliss (actor Lou Wagner) appear in our booth. Harlan was the main man behind the scenes at CHP that made sure that the vehicles and technology were always ready for Ponch and John. He was one of my favorites as a kid. Looking back on it now, he may have had a huge influence on my career path…
IACP 2009 in Denver
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Thanks to everyone that took the time to stop by the 54ward booth at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference this week in Denver. It seemed like everyone enjoyed checking out the Ford Fusion Police concept car that we designed and the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Chevy Camaro that we built. Special thanks to OCSO for letting us display their Camaro and to the guys from UNH Project54 for helping out in the booth. See you all next year in Orlando!
PS: I will post more info in the near future on the vehicles that we displayed at the show.
Officer Distraction Leads to Crash in Jacksonville
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Photo Credit: Rick Wilson/The Times-Union
The Florida Times-Union A Jacksonville police officer took her eyes off the road to read her laptop moments before her cruiser rear-ended an empty gasoline tanker truck this morning, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
Officer Amanda Meyer, 29, was driving west in the 1500 block of Zoo Parkway about 8:30 a.m. when her car struck the truck, said Lt. Bill Leeper, a Highway Patrol spokesman. Leeper said the truck had stopped at a railroad crossing, as required by state law, and was about to head across when the accident occurred. Leeper said Meyer had briefly glanced at her in-car laptop, which is mounted to her right, before the accident. When she refocused on the road, she tried to swerve to miss the truck, he said. The right front of her vehicle struck the truck. The patrol car was traveling about 40 mph in a 45-mph zone when the accident occurred, said Sgt. Joel Johnson of the Highway Patrol. Meyer suffered injuries to her left arm. She was taken to Baptist Medical Center, where she was treated and released. The truck driver, Andrew Holmquist, 42, was not injured.
Normally, when I tell people that my company 54ward develops voice control systems for police cars, they respond with “that’s cool” or make some Knight Rider reference. However, most people that do not sit in a police car everyday fail at first to see that voice control in a police car is critical to officer safety and not just a futuristic gadget. Without voice control, police officers are forced to decide between safe driving while ignoring all of the tools that have been put in the vehicle to help serve and protect or sacrifice safe driving while interacting with multiple computer programs and dozens of switches and knobs to stay on top of mission critical information. Like most police officers, I am sure Officer Meyer was doing her best to balance safe driving while staying informed with her mobile data computer but unfortunately statistics show this balancing act is leading to more and more police involved in traffic accidents. I am glad that Officer Meyer was not seriously injured and this news article is being used to raise awareness of the dangerous distractions that police officers must deal with behind the wheel every day. Hopefully the technology that we are developing will help reduce these risks without sacrificing the amount of data at the officers’ finger tips to keep them safe and efficient.
Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office Twitter
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I recently noticed that the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office has an official twitter account, @OkCountySheriff. A few days ago they tweeted a link to one of my youtube videos that was featured here showing their 54ward equipped Dodge Charger in our booth at Police Fleet Expo. It is great to see public safety agencies embracing and utilizing new technology. The OCSO is definitely a leader when it comes to technology. The Dodge Charger that was at the show was equipped with Federal Signal SmartSiren, Code3 and Whelen Lights, Elsag License Plate Reader, two Kenwood 2-way radios, Uniden scanner, Decatur Electronics radar, Bio-Key MobileCop, Panasonic Toughbook and of course 54ward’s COREcontrol system providing touch screen and voice control to all of the above. The car looked great and was a big hit at the show. The OCSO’s deployment of 54ward is shown in more detail in the CBS news clip below:
Police Fleet Expo 2009
By · CommentsThe above video is a quick walk around of the 54ward booth at Police Fleet Expo 2009. The booth featured an Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Dodge Charger and the world premiere of the Ford Fusion Urban Patrol prototype vehicle with modifications designed by 54ward. The show was a great success. Thanks to all that stopped by the booth.
Brett Vinciguerra leads the development of next generation public safety technology as the Director of Engineering at 54ward Integrated Solutions.
