How we’re changing the world, one backup camera at a time.

As mentioned in our inaugural blog post, co-founders Joseph Fisher, Brian Sander and I spent nearly a decade working together at Apple as part of the leadership team that brought more than 15 generations of iPods and iPhones to people around the globe. One of the most rewarding aspects of our time there was how quickly we could deliver the very latest technologies into the hands of the customer. The results were products and experiences that were always new and fresh — providing a clear benefit to upgrade.

Unfortunately the experience with our cars is often far from new and fresh.

Cars last longer than ever and are quickly left behind by the rapid pace of new technology. The industry’s ability to keep them up to date is fundamentally limited by 6–7 year design cycles and how few new cars are produced and bought every year. Historically new features, from airbags to antilock brakes, have taken 30–40 years to reach widespread adoption. The future will be no different, unless we re-think things.

While we see great promise in autonomous vehicles, recent reports project only 4% of the 2 billion cars in the world in 2035 will be autonomous. That leaves more than 95% of the cars without autonomous features nearly 20 years from now.

Should we really be waiting this long? Why not use the very same technological building blocks of the autonomous future to help every driver on the road today? ADAS technologies, such as the backup camera, blind spot warning and forward collision warning, are available in some new cars and have clear benefits, and these new technologies are just too important to limit to only new cars.

Starting with RearVision

At Pearl, we know we can greatly accelerate new technology adoption by bringing these features directly to customers and their current cars.

We are starting with a feature that drivers are already demanding: the backup camera. While the backup camera was first introduced in a production vehicle 25 years ago, fewer than 1 in 4 cars in the US have them today. It’s important enough that a federal mandate requires backup cameras in all new cars starting with the model year 2019 (yes, the US government actually agreed on something!).

Our first product, Pearl RearVision, is unlike anything on the market today. It’s an easy-to-install wireless solution that combines sophisticated hardware and intelligent software. It provides high definition video in both day and night to your phone, along with audible and visual alerts of obstacles in your path.

Pearl RearVision is the first step in reshaping the way we look at features in our cars. We think you’ll love upgrading your car and seeing the impact of new technology. Check out the video for an overview and find product details at pearlauto.com.

Driving towards a better future

On a personal note, what has really fueled my passion working in this space are my twin 6-year old boys, Jackson and Wyatt. In ten years they will start driving — likely with the hand-me-down family car we’ll buy in the next couple of years — and while that car will certainly be safer than the car I grew up with, it will be far from the promise of the autonomous future.

What’s really hard to comprehend is that technology exists even today that won’t be in that car in ten years. Putting that time scale into perspective: ten years ago the iPhone didn’t exist. Think about how much has changed in the last ten years, how our lives are fundamentally changed due to it. And then think again — the car my kids will drive in ten years, along with the vast majority of cars on the road, won’t have technology that’s available today. For me as a father that’s completely broken and not acceptable — I can have such a substantial impact on their wellbeing by making that car absolutely the best it can be.

We know that technology accelerates more quickly than the auto industry can adopt. We are going to fix that problem through the aftermarket, enabling many more people to have access to driver assistance and autonomous features and eventually full autonomy. We believe that every driver, passenger, pedestrian, bicyclist — everyone on the road — they all deserve a better future. And all of us at Pearl are committed to making it possible.

Word marks mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.