Hudway-The future of safe navigation on the road

By Jenny Tang on October 20, 2014 • ( Leave a comment )

I personally may not know how to drive but as I have seen, from the passenger side, the frustration that comes with using a navigation system that just complicates the driving process. Time is wasted as drivers try to figure out the best alternative route to their destination when the road ahead is closed due to roadworks. I’ve witnessed my friends and other drivers vent their anger at the GPS system in their car, at the other drivers, at the road signs and at pedestrians. The frustration is only made worse when driving on unfamiliar roads whilst trying to interpret audio commands or complicated maps and symbols. While it may be relaxing and at times funny to hear directions from Eddie Izzard, it doesn’t help when he tells you to turn left when you clearly cannot legally drive in that direction.

Let’s not forget the constant need to be connected to the internet to keep your navigation system working; it doesn’t help when you are stuck in the middle of the countryside with no wifi available. When you spend any time looking away from the road to look at the navigation system is when a potential accident could happen, especially when driving in low visibility conditions such as rain, fog, heavy snow or darkness. Wouldn’t it be great to have a navigation system readily available that would allow drivers to focus on the road, keep their hands on the wheel and mind on driving? Something that would make it easier and safer to drive in low visibility conditions. A company from Russia called Hudway could pave the way for a future of safe navigation with a free augmented reality app.

Hudway will be one of the start-up companies heading to Dublin for the Web Summit taking place from 4th-6th November. They will be pitching their innovative idea to potential investors as part of the PITCH, which is presented by the Coca-Cola Company.

In addition, Hudway provides you with useful information including current vehicle speed, distance to the next sharp curve, and where it is best to slow down. All dangerous turns are displayed in red and prior marks on the road help to visually measure the distance. Distance between each marks is equal to 50 meters (or 200 feet). All of the information is provided free of charge as Hudway is a free to download app from the iTunes or Google Play store.

But I think one of the best features about Hudway is that an internet connection is not required to build the route. You can simply pre-load all desired routes. If the route is already built or pre-loaded you can use Hudway offline. This is especially handy when you go into the countryside, where there may be no connection at all.

Hudway has the potential to be a worldwide success, reach millions of consumers to download their app and save millions of lives in the process by providing safer driving conditions. The Web Summit and the PITCH will hopefully provide the exposure and investors they need to expand Hudway to the world, this is an app that every driver who uses a smartphone should have. The roads in the future will be safer now thanks to Ivan Klabukov and his team at Hudway.