Cyclops (company)

Cyclops is a GPS device designed to alert drivers to the proximity of speed cameras. It compares a driver's GPS location to a database of speed camera locations stored in the device.

In 2001 the eponymous company, Cyclops UK Ltd, become the global distributor of this product and subsequently acquired all the I.P. rights in the product, software and databases from Trafficmaster plc.® (the UK traffic information company).

The Cyclops device was sold in volume by Halfords, Motor World, Puegeot, Citroen, Nissan, Alfa Romeo and Ford as an aftermarket product.

In 2003-2004, investments were made by Octopus Ventures, East Midlands Business Angels and Catapult Venture Managers to further fund the development of the company.

The company is privately owned and run by Chairman Peter Johnson and Managing Director Stephen Wreford.

The company has since built its database coverage of speed cameras to cover 28 countries and includes all fixed, average, temporary, variable, red light, speed and mobile camera type categories in its database.

Cyclops uses a unique system of digital way-points in its database-creation-process to define a speed camera alert that eliminates any non-relevant alerts. Other camera alert systems often use a radius or cone look-up based on the vehicles heading which can generate false alerts in some instances.

In 2010, Cyclops UK launched a new real-time alert service using the "3G/GPRS" connectivity of mobile phones and connected personal navigation devices to enable a community of users to share information on the current activity of mobile speed camera enforcement. A team of internal researchers also added foreseen location information from local official agencies. In the UK, such agencies include the Safer Roads Partnership that manage such programs on behalf of local councils and police forces.

The live alert system is described as the first intelligent live speed camera alert system - on the basis that it is the first system to use a way of filtering user reports against historic, frequent and clusters of current reported data to derive a "risk" rating for each report. A similar system is also used by traffic information systems to help predict traffic patterns.

The service is currently available as an App on iPhone for the UK. UK motoring journalist Quentin Willson described the Cyclops Speedwatch system as a "must have app" in his Sunday Mirror column on 28 November 2011. Leading UK consumer motoring magazine, Auto Express, featured Cyclops Speedwatch as its "app of the week" in its 24 November 2011 edition.

Cyclops UK is a long standing supplier to Garmin - itself the largest satellite navigation brand in the world. All Garmin satellite navigation units come pre-loaded with Cyclops content.

The databases provided by Cyclops are found in millions of satellite navigation devices and mobile navigation device across the world and the company represents a notable influence on making speed camera alerts a standard feature on satellite navigation systems.

The company logo and strap-line "powered by Cyclops" appear on millions of satellite navigation boxes every year.

Since 2001 the company has used the strap-line "keeping an eye on the road ahead" to represent its focus on helping drivers to drive safely within the speed limit. Official agencies such as Thames Valley Safer Roads Partnership have described the Cyclops system as an "aid to safer driving on our roads"

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