Finding your Uber at night can be a challenge. Is it that black Civic, or that other black Civic?
Fortunately, locating your Uber after a night on the town is about to get a lot easier. The app-based car service unveiled a new hardware device that will light the way to your ride.
Shaped like the Uber logo, the Beacon device "goes on a driver's windshield and uses color-pairing technology to help drivers and riders more quickly connect at night, particularly at crowded venues," Uber's Nikhil Goel and John Badalamenti explained in a blog post. Riders will be able to personalize the device by "selecting from an endless number of colors for the Beacon to glow on their driver's vehicle."
So, when you see a car pull up with an Uber logo glowing in your preferred color, you'll know it's your ride. This should cut down on those awkward "are you my Uber driver?" conversations.
Uber first started testing this concept last year in Seattle through its SPOT pilot. During that test, drivers added a color strip to their windshield so passengers could more easily see them. Uber said the technology lowered cancellation rates and cut down on the need for riders and drivers to contact one another.
Now, Uber is taking things a step further with its Beacon technology. The company is rolling it out starting tomorrow in select cities, including Miami, Denver, Nashville, and Newcastle in the UK. Going forward, Uber is hoping to make these Beacons "the new standard" and plans to expand the technology to more cities in 2017.
"We'll be distributing devices to drivers at community events in the coming days to make sure on one of our busiest nights—New Year's Eve—rides are as smooth as possible," Goel and Badalamenti wrote.
Meanwhile, Uber rival Lift is also planning to roll out similar technology next year.