Undoubtedly technology is making our life easier. Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial intelligence, smart cities are not just buzzwords anymore. They have become our reality. While new technological advancements assist humans in many ways, they also do the job for us. Is it a good or bad side effect you think? One of the main areas affected by the technology advancements is the automotive industry. It is a good example, showing how the new technology can be incorporated into a rather traditional, mechanical world.
If 10 years ago driving a car was only about operating a vehicle, now it becomes a sort of entertainment. The semi self-driving cars are already in use and they keep developing. One of a such is Tesla, which in 2018 was ranked as the world’s best-selling plug-in passenger car manufacturer, the one that can be recharged from an external source of electricity (Tesla, 2019).
It has been announced that Tesla is introducing the company’s biggest software update. With the launch of the V10.0 software, in-car entertainment becomes real (Etherington, 2019). The feature called Smart Summon allows not only listening to music through Spotify but many more other features. For example, it will be possible to have in-car karaoke experience in the “Car-aoke” mode including a huge library of music and lyrics, supported by many different languages (Glon and Price, 2019).
Another feature is the Tesla Theatre mode that will allow Tesla owners to watch Netflix, YouTube, and Hulu, including Live TV if a user is subscribed to it. This option is only allowed when the car is safely parked and is particularly useful when the owners are waiting at a charging station. Enabling watching videos while moving would be only possible when full self-driving is approved by regulators. Yet full self-driving will not be happening any time soon (Glon and Price, 2019). Furthermore, one of the interesting features also includes navigation to local restaurants and any point of interest that are within the car’s range. Thus, improved maps will enable to make search results sorted based on distance (Tesla, 2019).
Lastly, customers who have purchased Full Self-Driving Capability or Enhanced Autopilot can enable self-navigation of their car through a parking lot and drive to them or to the destination that they choose, as long the car is within their visibility. Thus, the users of Smart Summon must be responsible for their car and monitor it and the surroundings. (Tesla, 2019). All of it sounds cool, but do you think it is necessary? What is your opinion on Tesla’s biggest software update?
References
Blum, B. (2019). This tech helps self-driving cars see well in all weather. Retrieved 29 September 2019, from https://www.israel21c.org/this-tech-helps-self-driving-cars-see-well-in-all-weather/
Etherington, D. (2019). Tesla V10.0 car software update adds Smart Summon, Netflix/YouTube, Spotify, karaoke and more – TechCrunch. Retrieved 29 September 2019, from https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/26/tesla-v10-0-car-software-update-adds-smart-summon-netflix-youtube-spotify-karaoke-and-more/
Glon, R., & Price, E. (2019). Tesla V10 Update Includes Smart Summon, Caraoke, Tesla Theater, More | Digital Trends. Retrieved 29 September 2019, from https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/tesla-v10-update-preview-video-netflix-youtube-caraoke-cuphead-release-date/
Tesla. (2019). Introducing Software Version 10.0. Retrieved 29 September 2019, from https://www.tesla.com/nl_NL/blog/introducing-software-version-10-0?redirect=no
Hi Yana!
Interesting read about entertainment systems in autonomous vehicles! I saw you touched slightly into the regulator aspect, which is of course always a factor which may slow implementations. Krabbendam (2019) presents a report by KPMG which states that the Netherlands is actually well prepared for the arrival of more autonomous vehicles on the roads, even over the U.S. The European Parliament (2019) also suggest that this change to full automation in cars may happen in the next years, what means that regulators should step up their game to implement new regulations in time.
Moreover, an interesting read which can be fact sooner than expected!
Jeffrey
European Parliament. (2019). Self-driving cars in the EU: from science fiction to reality: News: European Parliament. Retrieved from http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/economy/20190110STO23102/self-driving-cars-in-the-eu-from-science-fiction-to-reality.
Krabbendam, V. (2019). Nederland wereldwijd meest voorbereid op zelfrijdende auto. Retrieved from https://www.zelfrijdendvervoer.nl/mobiliteit/2018/01/18/nederland-wereldwijd-meest-voorbereid-op-zelfrijdende-auto/.
Hi Jeffrey,
Thank you for your comment! Interesting thoughts, I did not know that in the Netherlands it can be approved sooner than in the USA. We will see the updates on that!
I believe it is also very interesting to see how this will change regulations. Boundaries not only need to be set on what entertainment should be allowed to be used during a drive, but also on more serious matters. There has already been a fatal accident with one of Uber’s self-driving cars. The self-driving cars that are on the road now have human backup. However, Schmelzer (2019) argues that it might be unreasonable to have someone behind the wheel who expects the system to do everything, but then in the change of one moment, needs to step in a life or death decision. So, should we blame the technology? Should we blame Uber? It’s an interesting development in regulations.
Source: Schmelzer, R. (2019) What happens when self-driving cars kill people? Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cognitiveworld/2019/09/26/what-happens-with-self-driving-cars-kill-people/#7928e0f1405c.
Hi Loes,
Thank you for your comment! I totally agree with you. It is indeed horrible to realize that such self-driving cars can result in fatal accidents. I believe it can be convenient to use such function on the parking lot, while it’s raining and you are able to call your car. Undoubtedly more improvements need to be made in the system before it can actually be implemented.
Hi Yana, interesting post and very exciting to see what to expect from driving habits in the next decades! Next to an increased variety of entertainment features in a car, connected services will be of growing importance, according to Deloitte. These could not only be entertaining, but rather very helpful for the usage of cars, with real-time navigation, technology that searches for the best parking spot etc.. And on top of that, we might even have our Amazon Prime packages soon delivered into our cars as this is already the case in the US.
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/de/Documents/manufacturing/150909_DEL-15-5015_Broschüre_DasConnectedCar_rz_WEB-safe.pdf