Future of Cars – let technology steer the cars

The discussion has been around since many years to connect and communicate with each and everything in the world, may it be people, other living beings or machines. The popular futuristic movie Back to the Future gave us a peek view, how cars could be used much more than just carriers.

The future that seems foreseen, has car connected to the internet, from there it’s connected to the tracking devices, traffic lights, near-by vehicles, your smartphone through mobile app and even your home computer. This way, your car becomes a your partner and associate to the digital life. A life that has all your gadgets connected to you always.

How far we have fulfilled this dream?

Since tech giants, Google and Apple have already staked their interest in connected and driverless cars, many automakers have also hoped-in to explore this territory. Ford, BMW and Daimler are already using windows embedded Sync for an in-dash infotainment solution providing Bluetooth, voice recognition, touch-screen interface and navigation.

Nuance’s Dragon Drive Automotive Assistant, provide drivers a conversational and personalized virtual assistant while on the go. You say it and it dials your phone, search music for you, does playback and also message dictation, quite like Apple’s Siri.  

Volvo has also planned to use Microsoft’s virtual assistant Cortana in their upcoming models. Ford has developed a platform called SmartDeviceLink (SDL), which it believes will standardise the car automation interface. SDL is the open-source standard set of protocols and messages that connect applications on a smartphone to a vehicle head unit.  These tech-lights may be modest in compare to what we are seeking but every big dream is pursued with such small steps.  

What things we seek in a Smart Cars?

Auto-drive:

This is a feature that is being developed since 1980’s. Tests are being done on safety of its run but there is conflict among the groups for its on-road use. These driverless cars analyze and process information through the cameras, lasers, radars and GPS to let you experience being driven by a chauffeur.  

Infotainment:

It is not just music and Smartphone connectivity, now you get info about the objects outside eg. how far the object is and what object it is? Sounds like a Sci-Fi robotic movie? This is something closer to Augmented Reality and its glimpse can be seen in some of high end models of BMW.

Energy storing:

We have already seen hybrid cars and battery-run cars on the road. Since the battery takes a lot of space, car’s body panel can be a good option to place equipments that store energy. Whether future body panels collect energy or just store it, world is waiting for cars that are more energy efficient and lightweight.

Vehicle Management:

A car that automatically runs a diagnostic test on itself and help you troubleshoot it is definitely going to eliminate the regular repair and maintenance jobs. Moreover, there would be a system that optimises the fuel consumption, helps you navigate through traffic, does vehicle to vehicle communication and gives remote access to vehicle (just like the Bond’s car).

Driver Monitoring:

The driver’s seat may be fitted with small chips that reads the body stats and ascertains driver’s health through simple tests like Heart rate, Blood pressure and transpiration. In severe cases, such system may instinctively slow down the car or shut the engine and notify the police about emergency.

Safety operatives:

The system in a smartcar will be taking care of many of these safety operatives like Lane departure warning and prevention, Cruise Control, Adaptive Headlamps, Collision detection, Parking Assist/Automatic Parking, Night vision, Blind spot monitoring and Traffic sign recognition.

For us at LetsNurture, partnerships are a path to innovation. It will be our pleasure to partner and build a mutual value of trust to make way forward in this arena. The assessment of a true partnership is done when we’re able to accelerate the mobile strategies and give the consumers a new experience, like never before. If you think we can do something for you, let us know.