Pedestrian and Cyclist AV Interaction Safety Layer
C5/10March 19, 2026
WhatA mobile app and wearable that communicates a pedestrian's or cyclist's presence and intent to nearby autonomous vehicles, providing real-time feedback on whether the AV has detected them and will yield.
SignalPedestrians in AV-heavy cities described a stark difference in feeling safe crossing near Waymos versus human drivers — but as AV fleets grow, people want confirmation that the vehicle actually sees them, especially in ambiguous crossing situations.
Why NowAV fleets are scaling to the point where daily pedestrian-AV interactions are routine in several cities, and V2X (vehicle-to-everything) communication standards are maturing enough to enable this kind of real-time handshake.
MarketUrban pedestrians and cyclists in AV-operating cities; could be sold B2B to cities and AV operators as a safety/liability tool. TAM grows with AV deployment. No consumer-facing product exists for this.
MoatRequires partnerships with AV operators for API access to detection data — once integrated with one or two major fleets, competitors face a cold-start problem getting the same access.
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