Improving pedestrian awareness and low-speed urban mobility safety as vehicles grow quieter.

The Challenge

Electric vehicles dramatically reduce noise pollution.
At low speeds — in parking lots, shared streets, and dense urban environments — the reduction of traditional engine sound can also reduce intuitive awareness for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers.

As electrification accelerates, new approaches are needed to support:

• Situational awareness

• Detection and localization

• Vulnerable road user safety

• Urban sound stewardship

The transition to electric mobility must preserve both environmental gains and public safety.

Our Focus

Manukin is an early-stage mobility initiative developing a patent-pending acoustic awareness system for electric vehicles.

The work focuses on:

• Human-centered safety

• Behavior-linked acoustic cues

• Responsible integration into urban environments

• Feasibility-driven prototyping and validation

Technical implementation details remain confidential during this phase.

Why Now

• EV adoption is accelerating globally

• Cities are prioritizing Vision Zero and pedestrian-first design

• Existing alert systems often increase noise without improving localization

• Early feasibility work is critical before standards and implementations harden

Investing in thoughtful solutions now allows safer, more context-sensitive systems to emerge before suboptimal approaches become entrenched. Addressing these challenges early supports responsible integration of safety systems into future electric mobility standards.

Status

Status: Early-stage feasibility and prototyping
IP: Patent pending
Location: San Francisco, CA