The way technology has currently shaped the automotive industry is huge. Technological advancements have changed the way cars are built, the features within vehicles have changed and the competitiveness of the market has increased. Where there used to be a number of manufacturers who supply cars, vans and trucks, that list has increased a lot over the years. Tesla is a fine example, they launched in 2003 and are very popular now. For workmen, many people would say you should look at an Iveco EuroTrakker for your construction site. Years back, the recommendations would have been different.
As we look to the future, what changes are going to be made when new technology hits the market? Driverless cars are talked about a lot and so is biometric entry. Below we look at three different ways technology may affect the automotive industry in the future.
Driverless Cars
When you start a discussion about the future of cars, driverless cars will always be mentioned. Most people will say it’s only a matter of time until we see them in our everyday lives and we tend to agree. As technology improves and becomes more reliable, the more likely it is that driverless cars will start to enter the market. To an extent, the technology already exists with many high-spec cars having lane assist in them and cruise control – this means the car will make sure you stay in a certain lane if you are not touching the steering wheel and drive at a set speed. It shouldn’t be a race to launch driverless cars as safety should be the number one priority – the question is, how long will we have to wait until we see them?
Biometric Entry
You see biometric entries used on your phones, to unlock your laptop and other key devices that we use on a day-to-day basis, how long until we unlock our car or Iveco tippers lorries using the technology? If you are unsure what biometric entry is, it’s when you use your thumbprint to unlock a device. It’s very safe and secure, meaning it won’t be long until our vehicles at home use it. It may not be our fingerprint that we use to unlock our car, maybe they will use face recognition or your iris.
Smart Dashboards
The dashboard of a vehicle changes with every upgrade they do to a vehicle’s model. Many years ago, a car’s dashboard was very basic and included a radio and a cd player if you were lucky. Now the dashboards are all touch screens and mostly include a sat nav. How will technology change the way a car’s dashboard looks? This is an area that is up for discussion and will always be improved on each year. As new technologies are launched, if they are effective, car manufacturers will adapt their vehicles to include them. Could it be that they are holographic in the future? How will augmented reality affect it? Health monitoring could be added to make cars safer.
What changes do you think will come in as technology advances? Do you agree with the three points above?
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.
I can predict how the future dashboards will function. Everything will be subscription based. You want dumb radio ? Connect to licensing server over internet. All the data will be sold to the insurance companies. That might actually provide funds to add to the car a small GSM dongle with two way data. In theory it would provide tons of benefits. But as the practice shows all the features will be either pay as you go or subscription. I predict there will be a cottage industry to put overlays on top of the existing dashboards with custom infotainment .
And because touchscreens are so much cheaper than physical controls, you will not be able to use the controls at all without taking your eyes off the road.
Which will be detected by eyeball monitoring, and the points taken off your license and the fine removed from your bank account before you finish turning the air conditioner on.
Physical adjustment knobs become a feature advertised for the most expensive vehicles.