Everybody could use a little help maintaining their car and that is a role that Drust's Akolyt is looking to fill.
The Akolyt is a device that plugs directly into a car's dashboard and provides real-time information and support to one's smart phone via a free app. The device assists in several areas of maintaining a vehicle, from feedback on how you drive the car to upcoming maintenance alerts. That includes such things as wear on tires, breaks and oil. The Akolyt can also help to get a driver assistance should a breakdown or accident occur and CEO Michael Fernandez said at CES that the device provides performance tips that could lead to up to 20-to-30 percent in gas savings.
Of course, in an increasingly social world, users can also measure their performance against other drivers and accrue points to level up and earn badges.
The Akolyt has started to become available in Europe and Fernandez said the company has an eye towards a release in the United States at a later time.
Interview by Scott Ertz of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology
Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.
