Santa Barbara-based startup Autio has a unique conceit for its product: provide drivers with what it describes on its website as “professionally edited and narrated audio vignettes” of places and landmarks as they drive through them. The company, which was co-founded by Kevin Costner, delivers these experience through an app currently only available on iOS (an Android version is coming soon). The stories are narrated by such celebrities as Phil Jackson and John Lithgow.
As Autio says on its website, “nearby stories automatically play at the perfect time to answer the questions we all wonder as the odometer turns.” They exist to help answer common questions such as “I wonder how this town came to be?” From an accessibility perspective, Autio has come up with a clever and more modern approach to sightseeing on road trips. As a Blind person who spent vacation last month on a two-and-a-half week road trip through the Pacific Northwest and into British Columbia, I can attest to having many questions about the myriad small towns and other stops my partner and I went through our travels.
Whereas constantly looking at my phone causes eye strain and fatigue—not to mention induce inattention to the world around me—had I known about Autio previously, the app would’ve proved useful as we drove past such noteworthy things as Mount Shasta. Beyond getting information from the car, it’s also true even with the Magnifier app on my iPhone, signage at visitors centers and rest stops often sorely lack in readability.
“I created Autio out of my love for traveling, history, and storytelling. I felt drawn to creating the app as an authentic venture into the digital audio space,” said Woody Sears, Autio’s co-founder and chief executive officer, in a recent interview with me conducted over email.
Using GPS data and users’ interests, Sears explained Autio currently offers over 11,000 stories spanning the continental United States. In a nutshell, he said his company’s software “really fills the gap” in terms of storytelling in large part because when you’re in your car, “there’s only so much you can do until you reach your destination.” It’s Autio’s mission, then, to provide entertainment and insights while on the road.
Last week, Autio issued a press release wherein the company announced a partnership with mobility risk intelligence firm Zendrive. According to Sears, the venture enables Autio to utilize Zendrive’s proprietary technology to “quickly and seamlessly analyze users’ driving behavior without requiring user intervention when drivers opt in to Autio’s Drive & Save program within the app.” Sears explained drivers will go through what he called a “test drive trial period” during which they will be assigned a driving score based upon feedback on their driving skill. Drivers will have unlimited access to Autio’s stories during this timeframe, and qualified drivers will be eligible for a discount of “up to 40% off Zendrive’s top-tier auto insurer partners.” In addition, drivers also receive a one-year Autio membership. Autio will award the first Drive & Save discounts at the end of the month, according to Sears.
Safe driving—and accessibility—is a hot topic in the automotive space right now, particularly in light of Waymo and Cruise’s recent hopes to expand availability of their autonomous robotaxis in San Francisco. For his part, Sears believes technology can go a long way in promoting safer driving by “monitoring driving behavior to providing feedback about bad habits drivers may not even be aware of in addition to sensors that help to prevent accidents.” As to safe driving and lower insurance rates, Sears told me “all car owners who follow safe driving habits will benefit from this type of program [such as the Drive & Save with Zendrive] that can accurately measure driving behavior to determine risk.”
As for Autio’s core product, a cursory glance at the App Store reveals the app has a 4.8-star rating based on more than 3,600 reviews. One user, who posted in late 2021, wrote of Autio: “The experience is great and the content is solid. This is a perfect application for someone who travels a lot and tends to have their nose buried in a guidebook or loves reading the plaques at historic sites. I’m so excited this app is here.”
When asked about the future of transportation in America, Sears was unequivocal in his answer, saying in the long term “the future of transportation is autonomous.” For the foreseeable future, however, he believes the human element “is going to be a factor for a while.” Sears added that, in the interim, he’s in favor of technologies which “helps and rewards drivers for driving safely and cuts down on accidents and fatalities” such as the new Drive & Save program with Zendrive.
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