Honk if you're being attacked by giant robots

Satellite-powered car horns will warn of citywide disasters
Satellite-powered car horns will warn of citywide disasters

If you hear one car horn blaring, it's probably a slow driver.

If you hear dozens at once, killer squid could be on the loose! Or a volcano may have appeared just down the road.

Scientists at the INT in Germany have come up with a patent for technology that will sound the horn of every parked car in a city during a disaster.

Safety from satellites

The technology is based on the EU eCall emergency system, which new cars are going to be equipped with as from September next year. It consists of a GPS sensor and a mobile phone component that's activated only in case of an accident to transmit the time, coordinates and direction of the vehicle to an emergency call centre.

The INT researchers think that this technology can also be used to warn the population about marauding wildebeest and hailstorms of frogs. Once the cars are equipped with a radio receiver, their horns can be triggered by civil protection agencies in case of disaster.

Guido Huppertz from the INT's Technology Analyses and Forecasts department explains the advantages of honking cars: "Previously solutions such as mobile phones or smoke detectors only inform a single user. The entire population can only be alerted if everyone has these devices. However, a mere 14 per cent of vehicles on the road are sufficient to provide extensive alarming."

If all new vehicles are equipped with eCall from the end of next year, the warning system may be ready for use in just two to four years, Huppertz predicts.

Mark Harris is Senior Research Director at Gartner.

Latest in Car Infotainment
Waze voice control
Waze is ditching Google Assistant for Gemini on iOS, and for good reasons
Android Auto
Android Auto 14.0 is rolling out now – and it'll soon swap Google Assistant for the smarter Gemini
Android Auto
Android Auto is about to get a big Gemini upgrade – and there's good news and bad news
Apple CarPlay 2
Apple promised us CarPlay 2.0 in 2024 – but it hasn't arrived yet
Android Automotive examples in EVs
Here's the real reason Android Automotive is still kind of a mess in EVs
A look at the Target "Drive Up" experience running in Apple CarPlay.
Target aims to make picking up orders even easier by integrating with Apple CarPlay
Latest in News
Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con up-close from app store
Nintendo's new app gave us another look at the Switch 2, and there's something different with the Joy-Con
cheap Nintendo Switch game deals sales
Nintendo didn't anticipate that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was 'going to be the juggernaut' for the Nintendo Switch when it was ported to the console, according to former employees
Three angles of the Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4 laptop above a desk
Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) review roundup – should you buy Apple's new lightweight laptop?
Witchbrook
Witchbrook, the life-sim I've been waiting years for, finally has a release window and it's sooner than you think
Amazon Echo Smart Speaker
Amazon is experimenting with renaming Echo speakers to Alexa speakers, and it's about time
Shigeru Miyamoto presents Nintendo Today app
Nintendo Today smartphone app is out now on iOS and Android devices – and here's what it does