The Tech Takeover in the Automotive Industry

What is the future of the in-vehicle experience??

Tech has transformed every aspect of our daily lives including the way we drive. The outbreak of the global pandemic has thrown the entire automobile industry into disarray. As a result, automotive businesses have developed AI-driven solutions to address these difficulties.?On the brink?of a massive upheaval, automobile manufacturers have been incorporating new functions into their product lines to meet new user demands.

Our driving experience has improved over the last decade. Navigation systems, touch screen?panels, and enhanced security systems were only the?tip of the iceberg.?The average car buyer's question has shifted from?‘How fast is?it’?to?‘How smart is it.’?Now?buyers?look for how interactive the car is. Whether it provides ease and intelligence is one of?the top?priorities.

We have?heard about the autonomous, electric, and driverless automobiles of the future, but what about the in-vehicle experience? Let us look at how automakers and IT startups are?attempting?to revolutionize every part of the in-vehicle experience.

Advanced Driver Assistance Services?

According to a?survey?conducted?by the United States Department of Transportation ,?in?2019,?traffic accidents claimed?the lives of 36,096 people,?many of these crashes were tied to human error.?No modern car?is manufactured without sensors?and?assistance?services?and that is what makes it fundamentally smart.?Numerous?automotive sensors are installed in your vehicle, but they are kept as unobtrusive as possible. Sensors in cars work invisibly to make driving more comfortable, efficient, and safe.?

Automobile giants are also working?with start-ups to create technology that will measure an individual's electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG) in real-time?to offer information on driver and passenger health,?assisting?in the early detection of potential medical issues.?The sensor is built into the steering wheel and can?monitor?changes in heart rate and rhythm, as well as stress levels, fatigue, breathing, and atrial fibrillation. These indicators can provide real-time health information to drivers and passengers, as well as work with driver?monitoring?systems to detect and intervene when drivers become exhausted or unwell. B-Secur?is one such start-up that?has created HeartKey , a biometric-based authentication device that?identifies?users by?monitoring their heartbeat.?

Vision-based driver?monitoring?technology is also being developed by AI (Artificial Intelligence) startups.?Eyesight?Technologies , for example, is working on dash-cams that assess a driver's eyes, head position, and upper body movements.?The technology will either send the driver a warning or integrate with the vehicle's driver?assistance?system to automatically pull the vehicle over if the driver is distracted or fatigued.

We are on the verge of making car travel one of the safest ways of transportation. An automobile that looks after you rather than the other way around.

Biometric-based?authentication

Biometric-based authentication confirms a person's identity using biological markers such as a fingerprint, face, or pupil,?and?is a formidable replacement for the key fob.?

Several major automakers are experimenting with biometric technology to assess if it can be used for vehicle entry and ignition.?In China,?Hyundai has already included fingerprint scanning in two of its vehicles. ?Drivers can enter the vehicle and turn on the ignition without using a key because of the authentication system.?The vulnerability of biometric-based authentication systems to hacking is one?stumbling?barrier. These systems rely on easily manipulated image databases, and some biometric markers, such as fingerprints, can be forged and faked, which is why an innovative approach is being developed for biometric indicators that are more difficult to replicate.?Gentex , for example, has developed an iris-based authentication system, which it claims is the most secure type of biometric authentication available.

Prepare to be able to lock/unlock and start your car by simply touching or looking at it?in the near future.

In-Vehicle Assistant?

Voice assistants are all too familiar to us. Big tech companies are incorporating voice technology into vehicles thanks to Alexa, Siri, and Cortana, allowing drivers to get vital information regarding navigation, detours, and potential pit stops?without having to check their devices. Voice technology, on the other hand, may do more than just provide hands-free navigation: more modern in-vehicle digital assistants can play music, search, and send text messages.

With their operating systems, Android and Carplay, Google and Apple already have a presence in a lot of vehicles. Amazon, on the other hand, is collaborating with major automakers like BMW, Toyota, and Ford to integrate Alexa into their smart infotainment systems. The?Echo Auto ?by Amazon is?an aftermarket gadget that brings Alexa into the automobile.

As tech companies, automakers, and startups work to improve the command recognition capabilities of in-vehicle voice assistants,?a few?startups are developing conversational interfaces or chatbots that can perform more useful tasks, such as locking doors or opening the trunk.

Some firms are also working on developing other automotive-specific features, such as detecting an oil change and scheduling an appointment while in the vehicle or predicting when the vehicle is due for service and maintenance.??

AR Windshields?

While a handful of luxury?car?manufacturers now offer optional heads-up displays that project information such as speed and?directions onto the windshield, these displays are all two-dimensional, which means they cannot offer many?features.?The heads-up display (HUD), a transparent display that displays data on the windshield so drivers can keep their eyes on the road, is the way of the future. These displays show essential information like speed limits, time, and temperature right in front of the driver's eyes.

Holographic displays can project augmented graphics for TV and movies, making HUDs (Heads Up Display) a medium for immersive passenger entertainment. With its consumer product, Navion,?WayRay , a HUD firm financed by Porsche and Hyundai, is pioneering the technology. A built-in HD camera in the Navion maps the?driver's environment, projecting turn-by-turn directions and hazard warnings onto the dashboard. Hands-free interaction is possible with this software- who?would have?thought??

Shopping and Entertainment?

In-vehicle retail is also gaining popularity as mobile payment technology improves, allowing for in-car transactions. In-vehicle retail, like gaming and streaming, provides additional revenue streams for ride-hailing drivers and shops while also improving the customer experience.

Audi and Intel, for example, are developing immersive in-vehicle experiences to keep passengers entertained in a driverless future.?Holoride ?by Audi combines virtual reality games and movies with real-time car data to provide riders with a "motion-synchronized" VR experience.

On the retail front,?Uber and Cargo have released a shopping app ?passengers in vehicles equipped with Cargo consoles, which include Uber-curated items like Glossier cosmetics, Nintendo Switches, and Apple hardware.?

Hopping into the car for a movie and a new pair of?Air Pods??

Optimized Parking?

We've all experienced how time-consuming it is to find parking in congested cities. It also contributes to carbon emissions. Cars will still need to be parked, even with the rise of autonomous vehicles and mobility-as-a-service, and several companies are inventing technology to help improve this process. This is also a big?pain point?for drivers. As a result,?it is?an open market for automakers to profit from. To better regulate parking demand,?optimize?supply, and enhance retrieval time, a variety of innovative technologies are being applied, including IoT (Internet of Things), computer vision, and machine learning.

Cleverciti Systems , for example, focuses on?minimizing?traffic congestion in cities by putting sensors that?monitor?all parking places and connect to screens that show vehicles where to park.?SpotHero ?has built a network of over 6,500 garages in over 300 locations to increase visibility into parking inventories and better match supply and demand. The company has teamed up with Waze, a navigation app, to?assist?users in finding the quickest way to their pre-booked location.

Robotics is also being used by startups to make the parking process easier. A self-driving parking robot is being developed by Stanley Robotics . Robots can?literally pick?up a vehicle by sliding a platform underneath it, lifting it up, and carrying it to a parking location, saving time and money for drivers and passengers while lowering fuel costs and emissions.?That is?very futuristic!

?AI, speech, and mixed reality advancements are bringing this far-fetched vision of the in-vehicle experience closer to reality. Automakers and retailers are pursuing innovative technological solutions to improve the in-vehicle experience for both drivers and passengers. Connectivity, automation, and shared mobility, among other disruptive forces, are forcing automakers to?prioritize?the driver and passenger experience. Automakers will have to continue?digitizing?the mobility ecosystem for the car to be seamlessly integrated into the consumer's whole array of connected devices?to?adapt to?evolving?demands.?

But this is just the beginning.