Ride-hailing company Lyft has pulled an April Fools’ Day prank with a hands-free gadget which can book rides for the user without having to open the app on the phone, just by raising the hand.
The gadget named Mono is a lightweight device which can be worn on the hand and it will connect seamlessly to the user’s Lyft app on the phone and can book the ride.
Lyft says that with the gadget, the user just needs to raise, request and ride. Mono has several sensors that can track one’s hand movement.
Mono features a micro-controller works in conjunction with Lyft’s API. It can read gyroscopic and accelerometer readings and requests a ride. The gadget also uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology to establish communications between the phone and itself.
It also features LED lights blink when there is a match and the request has been processed. They blink faster when the cab is en route and pulse when the driver has arrived.
Lyft’s Marketing head Melissa Waters said: “Mono is an extraordinary device that makes Lyft the only rideshare service in the world to offer autonomous ride-hailing.
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“Some argue that the first ever rideshare passenger was a hitchhiker – using his or her thumb to hail a ride – and Mono draws from this origin to create today’s most convenient ride-hailing experience.”
The gadget is also shaped like a folded-fist with the thumb up, which is the classic sign of a hitchhiker.
Despite the cool features does anybody need a physical product to hail a ride? The company said that it is in fact a prank.
The company noted that its customers can check out the new product at San Francisco Ferry Building Marketplace for a demo of the product.
Lyft also added that the demonstration of the gadget is also part of the prank. The company noted that the gadget is in fact real and it does not have any plans to sell the Mono devices.
Lyft said that the San Francisco event was also very much real.
