VNC Automotive
Date:
22nd September 2026
UK police force has adopted VNC Automotive’s Cobalt Cube® vehicle integration solution.
“It’s been a real pleasure to work with this lead customer. We first met at NAPFM four years ago, got to understand their requirements, provided a prototype solution, listened to the feedback, deployed an operational trial and delivered a solid working solution. It’s been amazing to see how the spark of an idea has grown to become an integral part of their operations and to see it being more widely adopted in ever increasing numbers of vehicles. As well as being recommended by the customer to other constabularies across the country. It’s truly an exciting time.”
– Tom Blackie, Founder and CEO, VNC Automotive
A major UK police force with 10,000 officers and staff, serving a population of over 3 million people, has adopted VNC Automotive’s Cobalt Cube® vehicle integration solution. First deployed in 2024, there has been increased adoption across the fleet ever since. Cobalt Cube interfaces between the vehicle dashboard screen and the latest home office certified video surveillance camera systems, such as the ProVida 4000 that is already widely deployed by many forces, including Cheshire, Warwickshire and Kent constabularies.
The Challenge
A major challenge for police fleet managers is to provide safe and ergonomic vehicle cabins for its officers; and to do so in a consistent manner across a wide range of vehicle types and models from multiple manufacturers. More and more vehicle manufacturers now fit large touch screen displays as standard; resulting in less and less space available to retro fit the typical range of required critical specialized police equipment. These include police radios, lights and siren controllers, matrix displays, handsets, tablets and multiple screens for controlling systems such as ANPR and CCTV systems. Mounting this myriad of equipment frequently interferes with airbags, blocks vehicle controls and often leaves officers stretching to use equipment or straining their eyesight to read distant displays. All of which leads to increased driver distraction and reduced safety. Coupled with new emerging safety regulations, it was therefore imperative to find an alternative.
The Solution
Cobalt Cube is a revolutionary plug-and-play unit that connects to the standard vehicle display, using the existing USB port or via WiFi; enables all the specialized critical systems to be displayed and controlled from the vehicle screen; allows multiple systems to be seamlessly and quickly switched between; facilitating decluttering of the cabin space with many of the peripheral devices being re-located to the rear of the vehicle or placed out of sight in the glove box. Already deployed in thousands of vehicles, with many significant customers, Cobalt Cube® is mature, robust and ready to meet the most demanding of applications.
The Results
The implementation of Cobalt Cube took much less time than the legacy video switching technologies; think of install times in minutes rather than days! No taking the dashboard apart, no intercepting wires; no fitting switching buttons; no voiding the vehicle warranty; easily removed and re-deployed; no programming required to the specific vehicle model.
Cobalt Cube was way quicker to install and the total cost of ownership was significantly cheaper. The ability to have commonality of a simple set-up, exactly the same across multiple vehicle types and models, was hugely beneficial.
It also maximizes resale value at the end-of-life once decommissioned as there are no unsightly holes and damaged dashboard.
A great added benefit is the ability to use the standard vehicle audio system (speakers and microphones) for those devices and applications that require audio input or output. This avoids the need for additional equipment, and cost, typically associated with old video switching technologies.
A very impressive, and unexpected, result is how easy it is to add additional systems without any additional costly switching hardware or spaghetti wiring. There’s really no practical limit to the number of devices that can be switched between and controlled by the one unit. Initially starting as a speed detection solution, it’s easy to add additional cameras and compute capabilities to provide advanced AI features supporting applications such as crew and detainee monitoring, external live facial recognition (LFR) and real-time weapon detection.
The fleet manager commented that: “VNC Automotive understands how vehicle manufacturers operate and their ability to keep us aligned with OEM developments has been excellent. The support team has been very responsive, engaged and helpful in resolving any challenges we’ve encountered, most of which have actually been of our own making and general finger trouble! We couldn’t wish for better support and visibility of their very exciting future developments.”
22nd September 2026