Ouster has released BlueCity, a traffic management system powered by its new Rev8 digital lidar, featuring native colour detection. The system combines 3D depth information with colour data to create digital twins of intersections and highways, intended to improve situational awareness for municipal transportation departments.

The Rev8 sensor provides up to double the range and resolution of previous models, enabling detection of road users up to 500 feet away. The system is designed to replace multiple cameras, radars, and inductive loops with one or two lidar sensors per approach. It integrates with existing traffic controllers to manage signal actuation, pedestrian walk-time extensions, and V2X safety messages.

The City of Stamford, Connecticut, is the first to deploy the Rev8-powered solution. The city is using the technology to monitor 360-degree corridors, aiming to reduce vehicle idle times and manage “near-miss” safety events. The hardware is built for a 10-year production life and is rated for extreme temperatures and environmental conditions.

“By capturing native colour alongside longer multimodal detection range, our traffic teams gain unprecedented situational awareness to protect vulnerable road users and optimise signal timing,” said Stephen Frycz, Transportation Manager for the City of Stamford.

The system processes data at the edge using NVIDIA computing, which Ouster claims allows for traffic analytics to be delivered faster than traditional methods while maintaining resident privacy.