Forget the old-fashioned chains and padlocks, now even the fight against bicycle theft is 2.0 and is fought with technology and social media. Bicycle thieves be warned.
The name is effective and refers to mythology: Bicyclops. This is how the two creators baptized it, Francesco Girelli and Stefano Rosanelli, who, with their startup Telamone Srl, won the tender in 2017 in support of the innovative start-ups of the Emilia-Romagna Region which gave "legs" to the social anti-theft system. The pilot project started from Bologna after two years of intense work and a crowdfunding campaign that went well.
The goodness of the intuition lies entirely in the increasing numbers, both as regards the people who use two-wheelers every day, and, unfortunately, as regards thefts. According to the latest estimates by Fiab (Italian Environment and Bicycle Federation), it is estimated that between 300 and 600 thousand bicycles are stolen every year, for an economic loss of 1,5 million euros. Moreover, that of technological anti-theft devices is still a market to be developed, given that the devices currently in circulation are all very expensive. For BiCiclope, on the other hand, thanks to the low production costs and a 3-year autonomy with special batteries, you spend 30 euros. There is also the advantage that the anti-theft device can be completely concealed in the bicycle. Let's see how.
BiCyclops must be inserted into the knob of any bicycle: it is made up of a sensor that uses Bluetooth Low Energy technology. After the purchase and installation of the sensor, the user can register and activate it through the application, which can be downloaded free of charge from the iOS and Android stores, associating it with his vehicle, of which he can also upload the profile image as in any social network . In fact, here lies the real leap forward, which involves an entire community of people. In the event of loss or theft, the user will report via the app, thus activating a tracking system for the stolen bike, while the devices of other app users will automatically detect and notify the stolen person of the presence of the bike.
“BiCiclope – explain the two designers – has as its main objective the creation of a network of people who help each other by exploiting technology: a principle attributable to the dynamics triggered by sharing economy, or sharing economy, which calls into question the possibility of the individual to participate as an active subject within a community”. It is clear that, in order to work, the project is effective only if the number of users is important: which does not mean that everyone must own BiCiclope, but at least download the app to become part of the anti-theft social network.
The application can be downloaded from Google Play and from App Store, while the device is currently on sale only online on the site www.biciclope.com.
