I first heard of CarWink at CES 2019, but they have been around for years. When I stopped by the booth, I thought they had some kind of Pokémon ball gadget. So naturally, I had to stop and check it out, and I’m glad I did.
What is CarWink?
CarWink is a device which sticks to the rear windshield that helps you communicate with drivers behind you. Using an LED screen to display different symbols, icons and faces, you can notify the driver of U-turns and even thank them for letting you merge in on a busy road. The CarWink will sync up to your phone to make it convenient to control.
The app will also support voice commands. Incorporating something like this into the device help drivers stay focused on the road, and not their phone. Last thing we need is something to take our attention off the road, and CarWink is doing everything they can to help advance an almost unchanged market.
Another thing to think about is battery life. Anytime you have something electronic, you have to think about the battery. Well fortunately, the CarWink is solar powered, so you won’t have to run cords or take it inside to charge it. For a product like this, it would have to be solar powered to be successful.
In terms of being successful, they have been very successful. On Kickstarter, CarWink surpassed its goal of $80K with almost 700 backers by over $20K. They also reached over $115K on their Indiegogo. It has been mentioned by all sorts of media, including national television, Yahoo, Digital Trends, Mashable, and well I guess Nerd Reactor now too.
What can CarWink do?
Lots and lots of different text, symbols, emojis, icons, faces, and characters. They even have an emoji creator editing platform where you can submit your designs to be used on the CarWink. So far, I have this list of emoji gestures to share:
- Baby-on-board
- Flirting
- Happy
- Have a great day
- Keep distance
- Need help
- Party time
- Sorry
- Thank you
- Unamused
- Accident ahead
- Pedestrian ahead
- Police ahead
- Reversing
- Roadwork ahead
- Traffic jam
- Turn off high-beams
- Turn on lights
There will definitely be more added in the future as more drivers start to submit their ideas to the emoji creator editing platform. One I can already think of it to turn off your left or right blinker. Sometimes people forget those are on and it would be nice to notify them. I’ll post a gallery at the bottom so you can see what these emojis look like, but I for one am a fan of this product. Mainly the idea of communicating with other drivers in general. I am hoping this helps us all become better drivers. Maybe, maybe not. We’ll see.
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