From hybrid cars to shuttles without drivers, 2019 looks like a year for incredible advancement in the world of the automobile. Take a look at some of the newest technological innovations that are meant to make your morning commute a little more enjoyable.
Audi and Virtual Reality
You don’t normally expect a car dealership to partner with an entertainment giant. However, that’s exactly what’s happened. Audi has most recently teamed up with Disney – yes, Disney – in order to make a car ride more entertaining for those passengers riding in the back seats.
The two companies worked together in order to create a one-of-a-kind virtual reality set up. The set-up is directionally linked to the forward, backward, and side-to-side movements of an Audi car. A passenger in the back seat of said car is then situated with a VR headset.
Once the car begins moving, the passenger is whisked away into a world where Iron Man, Rocket Racoon, and other Disney-Marvel characters attempt to navigate an asteroid field and alien attack.
No more need to distract the kids with portable DVD players or audio books. While Audi currently has a monopoly on this VR technology, it will soon be made available to other car dealerships. Both Audi and Disney also anticipate an increase in the amount of content that will become available for use on their headset in the near future.
Bosch and keyless cars
Bosch may not be working such an entertainment-oriented angle, but their car tech innovations go far in revealing one of the newest gadgets for your car. Specifically, Bosch is looking to make it so you no longer have to use your keys in order to get into your car. Instead, the company wants you to rely on a system known as Perfectly Keyless.
Perfectly Keyless looks to overcome consumer concerns about the hackability of keyless cars while also making use of Bosch-designed smartphone apps that can be used to open your car whether it’s in your hand or in your purse.
Courtesy of a cloud that both your Bosch car and the app will be connected to, you’ll be able to use a unique, digital key in order to keep your car more secure than ever. The development of Perfectly Keyless represents another step in the world of automotive technologies.
Bosch and driverless shuttles
Speaking of which: Perfectly Keyless isn’t the only car gadget that Bosch is looking to debut. At CES 2019, the company also displayed a model of what they hope will be a driverless electric shuttle. Not only will these electric shuttles operate similarly to the electric cars currently being manufactured by Bosch and its competition, but they are said to be technologically advanced to the point of putting the Jetsons to shame.
These shuttles, in addition to the software that enables their autonomous driving, will benefit from the use of deep learning. This deep learning software will be used on these shuttles to identify spills or litter throughout the shuttle as well as individual user needs.
Does it sound more like a mobile computer than a shuttle? Maybe. But that doesn’t mean that this car tech innovation doesn’t have a number of people extremely excited about the path vehicle development seems to be taking.
Kia and emotion detectors
Speaking of deep learning: another car company is looking to take advantage of the ever-increasingly powerful technology available to consumer audiences today. Kia is, in fact, looking to make your morning commute all the more personal.
The company has developed an artificial intelligence technology referred to as R.E.A.D, or its Real-time Emotion Adaptive Driving system. R.E.A.D is said to have the capacity to recognise, process, and respond to human emotions as displayed through facial expressions.
Working in partnership with MIT, Kia is making use of biosignal recognition – that is to say, the ability for a programme to access a database of human facial expressions and body language and then associate those signals with a specific emotion – to improve your driving experience.
If you’re upset, pleased, or exhausted after a long day, R.E.A.D is supposed to adjust the kind of music playing in your car, the level of lighting, temperature control, and even smell in order to suit your mood. Ideally, this individualization will make it safer for you to drive and prevent your mood from causing you to make mistakes while on the road. On a simpler note, this system seems intent on providing drivers with the most pleasant commute possible.
These aren’t the only automotive developments appearing in 2019, but they are some of the most significant. If you’re in the market for a car that takes advantage of today’s modern technology, then keep your eye on the news for new developments in the world of these and other car gadgets.