Self-Drive: a driver companion app
for test drive
An AI-based vehicle acquisition app that brings unmanned user experience to test drives
Services
UX/UI research and design
iOS development
AI voice assistant development
QA testing
Maintenance and support
Product management
Technology
Swift
iOS speech recognition
Mapbox
Bamboo Apps developed a self-service driver companion app PoC that allowed customers to test drive a new vehicle and learn about its specs without the need for a sales manager.
Challenge
Smart application that helps car dealerships go digital
The team of Bamboo Apps wanted to address the latest trends in the Automotive sales market while solving the problems of high commission prices, sales assistant wages, and popularity issues car dealerships face today. Furthermore, Bamboo Apps wanted to allow these businesses to function in a stable manner, allowing customers to test and buy vehicles while retaining a high level of security in the time of the pandemic.
Taking into account the online-centric shopping habits of modern customers and the necessity of social distancing caused by the pandemic, the team has decided to design a solution that helps car dealerships go digital. The challenge was conceptualising an idea that would make the best use of the connective functionality all modern vehicles come equipped with.
Solution
Unmanned vehicle acquisition and test drive app
We have developed an AI vehicle acquisition application PoC, Self-Drive. It allows customers to go for a test drive, learn about the vehicle’s specs, fill out the necessary paperwork, and check out with no need for a sales manager.
The software guides the driver along a set course, while providing contextual information about the vehicle’s capabilities. The AI acts as a voice assistant that utilises car data, computer vision, and machine learning, and can be operated via voice commands or touch controls.
Elaboration
Modernizing the way people purchase vehicles
Self-Drive is a PoC mobile connected car app that precisely taps into the recent demand for unmanned services, online car sales, voice assistants, and personalization. The software facilitates more productive experiences for modern customers, while saving car dealerships significant sums of money – around $79K per automotive sales specialist, to be precise.
The software exchanges information with major OEMs and uses real-time data analysis and computer vision to deliver it over the course of smooth behaviour-based communication flows. Self-Drive customises each test drive with automatic scheduling, reading customer reactions via computer vision, and actively managing security and safety issues, such as seatbelts and speed limits.
Self-Drive allows users to fill out all the paperwork required to purchase the vehicle and features a simple and secure mobile check-out.The app also compiles sales and customer behaviour data into analytical reports that can provide valuable insights for vehicle dealerships and OEMs.
In addition, Self-Drive will support ads for vehicle dealers and OEMs as an extra monetisation avenue.
Development
MVP of an AI-based driver companion
The 2020 pre-MVP version of the app was developed for iOS only and integrated with the smart vehicle’s systems to receive and analyse speed, braking, accelerometer, and road bump data in real time. The build featured a voice assistant that provided information about the car based on the analysis of the aforementioned metrics.
The 2021 MVP was still an iOS exclusive, but was expanded upon in a variety of ways. The team added a booking function and made greater use of the car connectivity features by adding a smart lock and unlock. The voice assistant was drastically improved, now featuring human reaction recognition and becoming generally more sophisticated as a chat bot. By then, the app had gained a backend integration with one OEM.
By December 2023, Self-Drive is planned to feature at least 3 more OEM integrations. AI will be further improved, while the app will gain smart reporting features for dealers and CMS for OEMs, as well as integrations with legal and financial systems.
