Sneak Peek into the Future of Connected AUTOVERSE from CES 2023 Lens
Nayan Arora
Principal Consultant and Team Manager at S&P Global | Mobility Consulting | In Focus: Battery Technology, Connected Car, Software Defined Vehicles(SDV)
The new year started with a lot of new announcements and concepts being showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023. The name suggests that this show should ideally be targeted at electrical and electronic devices but in recent years, automotive brands have started branding themselves as tech, service providers, and mobility companies. This means that CES was also hijacked, not completely but in some ways with new automotive concepts and products being introduced.
In this article, we will cover some noteworthy announcements and products which can impact AUTOVERSE, in the years to come. To keep the article concise and informative we will only cover the details of topics that are related to digital, connected, and to some level related to autonomous vehicles. Starting with the OEMs, we will then go to OES and finally conclude with the Tech Giants. Keeping the best for the last.
OEMs
BMW Group had their showstopper introduced on the first day, which showcases the vision of digital experience that can be offered to consumers when both software and hardware come together. DEE stands for Digital Emotional Experience, the concept is loaded with features that justify the name including color-changing panels on the body, HUD that runs across the windscreen, user profiles with avatars, then the applications and services unlock the next phase of experience which blurs the lines between reality and virtual. The level of information can be controlled with a mixed reality slider which can display the content in five different levels. DEE is expected to become the ultimate companion, the best friend who can be relied on and always has good advice.
Mercedes Benz will take the in-car experience to the next level with the help of Apple Music, Universal Music Group and Dolby laboratories to feature immersive spatial audio with Dolby Atmos. With this collaboration Universal Music will let the artists to base and record the sounds in a new stardard dubbed as "Approved in a Mercedes Benz". This sound experience has been made possible with integration of Dolby Atmos immersive audio and MBUX.
The North American customers will now be able to enjoy the digital entertainment platform ZYNC takes the seamless digital entertainment experience in the vehicle to a new level. ZYNC seamlessly bundles all streaming services into a single interface, allowing passengers to stream content on their screens while driving and broadcast it to all occupants when the vehicle is not in motion.
Consistent with the Dare Forward 2030 strategy, Stellantis has introduced Mobilisights which will operate as an independent business unit to collaborate with data partners and license data to a wide range of customers from automakers to new startups. Mobilisights will leverage the data from Stellantis connected vehicles fleet which is expected to reach 34 million by 2030 and reach a contribution of €20 billion from software related services. Mobilisights will operate with strict data governance and privacy policies to lay the foundation of the whole business with trust.
Chrysler will be the first brand in North America to feature the application of the new STLA Technologies. Chrysler Synthesis Cockpit Demonstrator showcases the execution of STLY Brain, STLA Smart Cockpit and STLA Auto drive technology to blend modern and premium design with intuitive, advanced technology and features.?The Chrysler Synthesis cockpit demonstrator expresses Harmony in Motion through a design language that is contemporary, sustainable and technology focused.
FIAT showcased Metaverse Store, which makes the brand a trendsetter in a digital yet human customer experience. The innovative online showroom is a user-friendly and accessible technology that requires neither a virtual reality headset (VR) nor other expensive hardware from the user.
More:
Chrysler Synthesis: Stellantis Media - Chrysler Brand Reveals Chrysler Synthesis Cockpit Demonstrator, Highlights ‘Harmony in Motion’ at CES 2023 (stellantisnorthamerica.com)
FIAT Metaverse Store: FIAT at CES Las Vegas 2023: World premiere of the FIAT Metaverse Store | Fiat | Stellantis
Now we will talk about some of the major announcements and products from Automotive suppliers.
OES
RideCare Companion is a comprehensive solution designed specifically for ridesharing to increase driver and passenger safety. It is a complete service made possible by a camera and a wireless SOS button.?Ride Care Companion offers features including Safety call to connect with Bosch associates directly and driver portal that can store all the videos of indoor and outdoor with address and time stamp to make it legal evidence. The camera installed in the vehicle can even check if there is an object obscuring the view or it is turned away and then send a notification to the driver.
In order to help the organizations in securing their AI/ML assets and prevent financial loss, damage to brand reputation and intellectual property theft, Bosch introduced AIShield.
It can Assess - Detect - Defend against the attack on both cloud and also devices. The applications of this technology range beyond Automotive to industries like, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Telecom and Financial Services.
More:
Ride Care Companion; Bosch RideCare Companion: makes every journey safer (bosch-mobility-solutions.com)
AI Shield: Bosch AIShield | AI Security Solutions
Continental showcased its Curved Ultrawide Display at CES 2023. “Ultrawide” refers to a width of 1.29 meters, curving from one A-pillar to the other. The 47.5 inch TFT display is illuminated by more than 3,000 LEDs on a 7,680 by 660 pixel active area. With a radius of 4,200 millimeters, the curved surface harmoniously integrates into the vehicle front, ensuring that the user sees distant screen areas for a full and relaxing experience. The matrix backlight produces excellent high-contrast picture quality and also offers the option of dimming individual areas of the screen that are not needed. This local dimming technology saves power and improves readability.
Curved pillar to pillar display is complimented by an integrated control display that only becomes visible when it is needed. This unique display solution prevents unnecessary information from distracting the driver. The panel can also be used to conveniently control areas that are out of arm’s reach for the user. The haptic feedback of the panel makes it possible to operate the pillar-to-pillar display without having to take your eyes off the road. When the display is not needed, it is invisible. It does not appear as an empty black space, instead it merges with the decorative surface to form a single unit, in a wood, carbon or any other premium look and feel.?
Finally, let's take a look at the announcements and products from the Tech companies.
Qualcomm added another member to their growing family of digital chassis product portfolio. Snapdragon Ride Flex SoC is engineered to support the digital cockpit, ADAS and AD functions to co-exist on a single SoC. The Flex SoC is optimized for performance scalability, ranging from entry-level to premium, high-end central-compute systems, providing the flexibility to automakers to choose the appropriate performance point for their vehicle tiers. The Flex SoC is also designed to be an ideal in-vehicle central-compute platform to power the next-generation Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) solutions by providing best-in-class high performance, heterogenous safe compute with the ability to execute flexible mixed critical cloud-native workloads.
Qualcomm Technologies and Salesforce aim to help automakers deliver immersive and personalized experiences that use comprehensive vehicle and driver data, including fast or real-time alerts, specific offers, and predictive services, such as preventative maintenance alerts and on-demand feature upgrades.
This new platform will be intended to also give automakers the tools to customize service offerings for each user, and then deploy these offerings across all vehicles to build a fleet of dynamically configurable, software-defined vehicles (SDVs).
More: CES 2023 | Qualcomm
Samsung and HARMAN jointly developed Ready Care. Ready Care is an innovative solution that enables a vehicle to directly recognize the physical and emotional condition of its driver and amend car functionality accordingly thanks to such key features as its Cognitive Load measurement technology and Stress-free Routing. What’s more, thanks to SmartThings connectivity between a driver’s car and their home, the driver can make sure their arrival is as pleasant as possible by remotely setting their devices to Relaxing mode — managing their TV, air purifier, lighting and more.
Samsung also showcased Ready Tune from HARMAN. Ready Tune enables users to customize immersive, differentiated sound experiences according to their preferences and features Live Mode, which replicates the acoustics of live stadium performances; Talk Mode, which enhances spoken content, such as podcasts, audiobooks and phone conversations, through customized filters; and Club Mode, which provides crisp bass experiences beyond traditional speaker capabilities.
More: Take a Virtual Tour of Samsung’s Future-Forward ICX Booth at CES 2023 – Samsung Global Newsroom
Ring will expand its product line from security of home towards the vehicle security.
Ring Car Cam is a dual-facing dashboard security camera with safety features designed for your car whether you're parked or on the go. Car Cam's built-in sensors and advanced motion detection can sense movement in and around your car, send alerts in real-time, and record incidents on the road. Using Live View, you can activate bright LED lights or use Two-Way Talk.
Amazon and Panasonic announced they will work together on an industry-first technology integration for Panasonic’s SkipGen in-vehicle infotainment system. The partnership will allow customers to simultaneously use Alexa and Siri in Apple CarPlay by simply saying either voice service’s wake word. The integration for SkipGen is enabled by the Alexa Auto SDK and the “Hey Siri” feature for iPhone voice requests in Apple CarPlay.?
Google has worked on Android Auto to improve both the experience and also the capabilities. To improve the experience, new design prioritizes three important goals for drivers: navigating where you’re going, communicating with friends and family, and playing your music or podcasts.?In terms of capabilities, Google assistant has expanded in terms of functionality, there are on-screen shortcuts for music and messages.
Google has made it possible to already share your digital car key with friends and family. With digital car key, you can lock, unlock and turn on a compatible car using just your phone.?You can view and change who has access to your car in your phone’s digital wallet app.
Cars with Google built-in bring Google Assistant, Google Maps, and more apps from Google Play directly to the car screen without relying on a phone, so drivers can just get in and go. There are new updates which will introduce Google’s new HD map is now available in select new cars with Google built-in, starting with the Volvo EX90 and Polestar 3. The HD map delivers precise road details like lane markers, signs and road barriers to support automakers' assisted and autonomous driving technology for safer, more hands-free driving on select roadways. In future there will be wide range of apps in the Google play store.
This brings us to the end of the updates. There are a lot of more new concepts and product which were introduced in the CES 2023 which will make the next few years of the automotive landscape more interesting and give a new meaning and definition to the mobility as we know it today.