Trend report 2019 pt.1

What foreseeable and likely trends will affect our means of transportation and how we treat them? Let's take a look at the technological changes we can expect in the future and how these technologies will affect future vehicle interiors and mobility concepts. Based on technological innovations from a wide variety of industries and sectors, the following theses read which scenarios are expected in these fields.

Artificial intelligence / natural voice control

Speak instead of touch

Due to the constant improvement of artificial intelligence and the resulting natural voice control, a new era of human-machine interaction is breaking. In 2007, Apple revolutionized the use of technology with the iPhone: the Internet became mobile, and the human learned swiping. However, there are many signs that we face another interface revolution that will create a new, simpler and more intuitive way to interact with technology. The central role will be played by language.

The framework for this development is the increasingly comprehensive networking and the smartification of our living environments. The Internet of Things is taking shape, our environment is being successively equipped with sensors - and this enormous increase in complexity also arouses the need for more intuitive interfaces that open up new potential for simplexity: easy-to-use interfaces that open up complex application possibilities.

An indication of this is the development in the field of machine learning: The most recent advances have been in speech recognition, the perception and recognition of patterns and spoken words. The search engine of the future will be talkative and more and more able to take on individual tasks.

One of the biggest challenges in the future will be the speed of data transmission, as the end-user experiences minimal usability disaster delays in the connection to the cloud. The hope here rests on super processors who no longer need a cloud connection.

Another advantage is provided by voice interfaces in mobile contexts, because they enable an enormous increase in traffic safety. Voice-activated head-up displays (HUDs) in cars allow people to have their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road instead of being distracted by displays. For example, the recently introduced MBUX user interface from Mercedes Benz has natural voice control. With the keyword "Hey Mercedes" the system is activated - two words are enough, and the vehicle listens. Thanks to the new revolutionary voice control can be controlled from the navigation system via the radio to the air conditioner many functions simply by voice. According to Daimler, voice control is capable of learning: on the one hand, it adapts to the user and his voice, and he also understands non-native speakers better and better; on the other hand, the software models on the server learn over time new buzz words or a changed language usage. In addition, the system no longer responds stereotypically, but also varies in the dialog output.

By means of a prediction function, MBUX anticipates what the user would like next. If, for example, the navigation system recognizes a more frequently traveled route, the navigation to this destination is started in the background. Through this use of artificial intelligence, the car develops into the personal assistant of the driver.

The learned personal information should remain in the memory of the vehicle and not reach the cloud via other systems. The manufacturer has no access to the data. If the car is sold, the owner can secure the information on a USB stick and transfer it to his new Mercedes.

Because the principle of "speaking instead of typing" is safer, more accurate and above all simpler, voice-based human-machine interactions become more relevant and screens become technological peripherals: screens, keyboards and touchscreens will in the future only be one interface among many. Thus, the artificial intelligence and the resulting voice interfaces have a major impact on the architecture and design of the automotive or mobile interior. The combination of technical components and materiality enables a highly customizable architecture. A mix of sensors and molding materials could be seamlessly integrated into knit smart materials. In the interior, these technologies enable intelligent environments that create a new level of responsiveness. Smart materials could become the most important aesthetic and structural element in the vehicle interior. Their superior functional properties are further enhanced by the integration of sensors. Similar to artificial central nervous systems, multi-channel sensor networks could be the future of Big Data. The collection of interconnected data is the key to building and training neural networks, which are an important pillar of artificially intelligent systems. As a result, the interaction spaces in the vehicle interior will adapt to enable the best possible data collection from their occupants.

Whether Mercedes has really revolutionized the cockpit, and the upcoming A-Class to extend the digital lives of their drivers and passengers, the users have to decide. For them it should be important that they can retrieve the usual functions of their mobile devices in the vehicle unrestricted. In any case, the OEM has succeeded in setting a new standard in the compact segment. And perhaps we will look back to the early 21st century as a strange epoch of the thumbs and lowered heads: a time before the hands were freed - and the verbal language empowered.