A Birmingham app company is part of an all-British consortium awarded £2.2 million to develop the next generation of autonomous vehicles.

Conigital, which is based at Innovation Birmingham Campus, is part of the group working on the project called 'Insight' to develop driverless shuttles with advanced sensors and control systems.

The project will focus on improving the accessibility of transport for people who have difficulty travelling independently as well as on the safety, reliability and integration of autonomous vehicles into an urban environment.

The vehicles will feature the world's first four-dimensional tactile display which will provide continuous sensory feedback for blind users over the course of their journeys.

Advanced indoor and outdoor positioning systems will allow blind users to know their exact locations using a smartphone app and will link to a cloud-based system which will allow nearby vehicles to be virtually requested or 'hailed'.

Conigital's technical director Prem Moti said: "We are thrilled to be part of the Insight project and to have received this funding from the Intelligent Mobility Fund.

"This will be a great opportunity for us to showcase our accessibility technology and to develop the next generation of autonomous vehicles."

Birmingham City University and Kingswinford-based Westfield Sports Cars are also part of the consortium which is being funded by the Government's £100 million 'Intelligent Mobility Fund'.