Google is targeting the plague of "smartphone zombies" that are increasingly causing accidents by walking around without looking away from their phones.

In a bid to keep the public safe, the tech giant has launched a new service called “Heads up” that is currently only available on its Pixel Android smartphones.

Once turned on, the service tracks your location, whether your phone is moving and whether your screen is on.

If it detects that you’re moving while your screen is on, it assumes you’re walking while looking at your phone and sends a warning.

“Look up,” reads one warning delivered by the service. Other messages it will send to try to stop “smartphone zombies” include “stay focused,” “watch out,” and “be careful.”

It’s hoped that people who receive the notifications will realise they haven’t been paying attention and will put their smartphone in their pocket.

The feature "should also work while jogging or running, since your phone's motion sensors will detect that you’re moving," Google wrote in its announcement of the feature.

"While we have tested this feature to be as accurate as possible, do not rely solely on this feature to keep safe," the company continued. "Please always use your best judgement, and use this feature as a gentle reminder when you do find yourself distracted while walking."

While it’s currently only available to people testing the latest version of Google’s Digital Wellbeing app on their Pixel smartphones, it’s likely that Google is planning to launch its Heads Up feature on other Android smartphones in the future.

Cases of so-called “twalking,” or texting while walking, are believed to have been on the rise in recent years as people grow even more obsessed by their smartphones.

Up to 45pc of pedestrians are distracted by smartphones while walking, according to a 2020 paper published in the journal Injury Prevention. Writing text messages while walking is the most potentially harmful activity, the paper found, as it’s associated with higher risks of collisions with vehicles and other pedestrians.

A 2019 survey of Britons found that 43pc of young people have walked into something or someone while looking at their phones.

Google isn’t the only technology giant dreaming up ways to tackle this problem. Earlier this month, The Telegraph reported that Apple has invented new headphones that can “tap” the inside of your ear to get your attention.

One use of the headphones, which Apple described in a recent US patent filing, could be to gently tap the inside of people’s ear canals to signal them to look or turn left or right while still looking at their smartphone.

This could help to give people directions to prevent them from walking into roads because they’re still glued to their smartphones.

Apple has also considered adding vibrating panels to glasses, meaning you could be encouraged to look left or right by gentle vibrations. The patent also suggests placing a vibrating panel above the nose to convince people to look straight ahead.