Yep, we've all been there – you leave your home in plenty of time to drive to an event, but end up being late because you spend such a long time looking for parking once you get there. Well, Israeli entrepreneur Yaron Aizenbud has created something that could make such parking-spot-searches considerably shorter. It's called Anagog, and it's a smartphone-based system that shows users where the open spots are, or even where spots are soon to be open. And unlike some other proposed systems, it doesn't require any hardware to be installed in the existing infrastructure.
To use the system to find a spot, users access the Anagog app as they approach their destination. This results in a street map being displayed on their screen, with the locations of spots recently or about-to-be vacated clearly indicated.
The system won't indicate where all of the open parking spots are, though – just the ones left by other Anagog users. The idea, needless to say, is that once enough people start using the system, it will still be far better than simply cruising around and hoping to just randomly come across a spot.
But how does Anagog know that its users are leaving spots open?
The low-power app constantly runs in the background on users' phones, and as Aizenbud describes to us, "[it] monitors the phone sensors in order to determine the mobility status of the user." While the exact details of how it does so are still under wraps, this monitoring process allows the software to determine where and when each user has stopped driving and gotten out of their car.
What's more, however, it also notes when they're walking back to the location of the parked car, along with when they get in and drive way. In this way, it's able to notify other users not only of the fact that a spot has recently opened, but it can also tip them off that the spot is about to open. This lets spot-seekers drive to the location and be ready to nab the spot as soon as the other car pulls out.
Anagog reportedly already has 100,000 users in Israel, although the company is now pursuing funding to get the system established in other markets around the world. Additionally, the Anagog technology has just been integrated into the existing EasyPark service in Europe and the US, that notifies subscribers when parking spots have become available. It's also already part of the FindMyCar app, that automatically notes where drivers have parked their car, then guides them back to it.
The following video illustrates how Anagog works.
Source: Anagog
