Future Cars

Image from lbl.gov

Intelligent Vehicles

Fuel efficient, zero emission vehicles will use high tech electronics to assist drivers in a wide variety of ways. Vehicles will communicate with each other, with the road and with traffic signals. Autos and trucks of the future will use vision enhancement devices to help you navigate through bad weather and warn you of a possible collision with a pedestrian or animal. They will also let you know if you are getting drowsy or straying from your lane. Cars of the future will be radically different than the automobiles of today, and so will the driving experience.

Accident Free Driving

Obstacle detection, collision avoidance and intersection warning systems are being tested right now by governments and automobile manufacturers. Radio signals, sensors and cameras, future vehicles will help avoid accidents by examining the environment in real time and notifying the driver of potential problems.

Pedestrian and animal warning systems could use infrared or other detection technologies to identify large animals approaching the roadway, and alert drivers by activating flashers on warning signs. These systems may also activate in-vehicle warning devices.

Autos That Talk and Listen

While you are driving, your vehicles will communicate with the cars and trucks around you. Your future car will notify you when trucks are merging into your lane or motorcycles are in your blind spot. Smart intersections will sense vehicles from all directions and alert you of a possible collision.

Vision Enhancement

In vehicle Vision Enhancement Systems will improve visibility for night driving, inadequate lighting, fog, drifting snow, or other inclement weather driving  conditions

User Interface

Cars of the future will do a better job of keeping your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road. Voice recognition will provide a hands free way of accessing your on board computer and navigation system. But your on board computer may do more than talk back.

Haptic interfaces are human/computer interfaces. Haptics exploits human behavior, since people are more likely to pay attention to tactile cues than visual cues. With haptic interfaces, a computer could receive or convey information through touch, pressure, force or vibration. For example, sensors embedded in the exterior of a car could feel if it's veering too close to another vehicle. That message could be relayed to the driver's seat, which could alert the driver to the danger with a tap on the shoulder. 

Future Car Design Contest

Can you design a concept car? Check out the extraordinary entries in Peugeot Design Contest.

Peugeot Design Contest

Connected Cars

European researchers recently demonstrated a system that makes a car aware of the position and trajectory of other vehicles, capable of providing several seconds warning of an imminent impact. Could this be the first step into the era of the "connected car"?

Using GPS, cameras and sensors, vehicle-to-vehicle communication could help avoid accidents. For example, a vehicle in an accident could warn approaching traffic to slow down. Blind spots could be eliminated. Communicating cars could also improve traffic flow by taking the best routes or by telling you when you are driving like a tourist.

Vehicle2Vehicle Communication
Reposit
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communications
Crash warning for connected cars?