The Problem
In both Canada and the USA, large animal-vehicle collisions is a 11 billion dollar problem resulting in over 30,000 accidents and hundreds of deaths every year.
Standard deer crossing signs and other large animal crossing signs haven’t changed in over 50 years.
Road reflectors gives drivers roughly 3 seconds to prepare for an accident.
Driver habituation means that most people become complacent and tend to ignore the dangers these road signs represent by not slowing down.
The Solution
DESCRIPTION
Lights will be placed along the side of roads known to be high in deer and wildlife collisions. A sensor will detect when wildlife is crossing the road and the lights will warn oncoming traffic to use caution (yellow).
PRODUCT
Mass Innovation is building dual-layered AI/solar-powered safety infrastructure to eliminate large animal-vehicle collisions, including deer.
Our system integrates Edge AI Hubs with a self-healing mesh of road-mounted LED studs. By using OpenCV for local object detection and the long-range ESP-NOW protocol for decentralized communication - we achieve sub-10ms latency and early warning detection - activating a synchronized pattern of lights nearly 200 times faster than traditional CloudAI.
Unlike static signs that fail due to driver habituation, our event-triggered network provides an intuitive alert in real-time, exactly where the hazard is detected, even in rural dead zones.
The Opportunity
CURRENT SOLUTIONS
Cheap and Ineffective
Includes passive road signage that drivers habituate to
Bumper whistles can be drowned out by road noise, and have low success rates
Expensive and Limited
Radar and Laser systems can cost 30k - 100k per mile
These systems oftentimes require drivers to have expensive equipment to function
Act as deterrent systems against large animals, rather than target drivers as the most reliable prevention point
MASS Innovation delivers a cost-effective, universal solution through a dynamic, event-triggered alert system at roughly $900–$1,000 per mile by using distributed edge intelligence across a wireless mesh. Unlike passive reflectors that run continuously, our system fires a directional light pattern only when a deer is detected — making it harder for drivers to ignore. Unlike centralized radar systems, our mesh network has no single point of failure — one damaged node doesn't take down the rest. The result is a solution built specifically for the "rural gap" — millions of miles of high-collision back roads that governments simply can't afford to protect with anything that currently exists.
MASS Innovation will go to market through a B2G Hardware-as-a-Service model, charging municipalities a monthly subscription per safety zone. This covers hardware, Edge AI updates, and mesh maintenance — letting townships bypass large capital expenditures and fund protection through existing operational budgets. The addressable problem is $10 billion annually across 4 million miles of rural roads. Covering just 1.6% of that — 66,000 miles — projects to $100M+ ARR at $150/month per mile, with hardware costs of $903/mile. That's 10× cheaper than current fencing alternatives. As we scale, our proprietary collision and animal-movement data becomes a valuable second revenue stream for insurance companies and state DOTs.