Uber has launched a new device called Uber Beacon to help riders identify their drivers. The device is affixed onto the inside of a driver’s windshield and uses colour-pairing technology to help drives and riders quickly connect faster, particularly at night and at crowded venues.
With this technology, riders can personalise their pickup by selecting from an endless number of colours for the Beacon to glow on their driver’s vehicle. And it’s instantly recognisable with the same design as the rider app icon.
Last year in Seattle, Uber pioneered this concept through its SPOT pilot, and found it reduced the need for riders and drivers to contact one another and lowered cancellation rates in historically tricky pickup locations. Based on this feedback, the company had been exploring additional ways to use its colour-pairing technology in hardware to improve both the rider and driver experience.
Uber Beacon is simple to for the drivers to install themselves within minutes and remove within seconds.
Uber says that its will start rolling out Uber Beacon tomorrow in select cities including Miami, Denver, Nashville and Newcastle (UK). It will also be distributing devices to drivers at community events in the coming days to make sure on one of the busiest nights—New Year’s Eve—rides are as smooth as possible.
Uber intends to make Beacons the new standard for the Uber experience, so in 2017 it will be expanding Uber Beacon to more cities across the world.
Uber’s competitor, Lyft, recently premiered “Amp,” a similar device with a colour-coded display. Its hardware also has a mock dot-matrix display on the reverse side, which can show text messages to riders once they’re on board.
