At the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2022, Continental Automotive revealed its headline: "Safe. Connected. Convenient." What is the essence of such a slogan?
For more than 150 years, Continental Automotive has continually revolutionized the way we move, particularly by offering safer, smarter, and more affordable transportation solutions. Tamara Snow, Continental Automotive's head of research and development in North America, explained the meaning of the headline and shared a vision of what the mobility of the future will look like. According to Continental Automotive, the future of transportation is inextricably bound with the idea of autonomous driving, where data management and artificial intelligence have an important role.
"Currently, cars are already generating large amounts of data, and today's driver assistance systems use AI to make decisions, assist the driver, and ultimately operate autonomously. And we're seeing more and more cars being connected and able to share information with each other or with other road users.
It helps to prevent accidents due to cars that may inform each other of potential dangers even if they are out of the driver's line of sight. However, it will take time until enough cars become able to connect with each other so that we can take full advantage of V2X communication. With collective perception messages, we are adding information from the new V2X message standards to allow cars and drivers to see through the eyes of others. With the V2X solution, the vehicle uses information from other vehicles and infrastructure sensors to improve safety in situations where there is no road visibility.
This may be the key to improving road safety by excluding the accidents that might be avoided. According to the World Health Organization, such accidents are more than 50% of all fatalities worldwide — including pedestrians, animals, cyclists, scooters, skateboarders, and motorcyclists."
As autonomous driving systems evolve, so does the need to improve UX (User eXperience). Tamara Snow also commented on this: "The trend is quite clear: With digitalization, User Experience is becoming ever more important for drivers and passengers and as a result displays in vehicles are becoming larger, more user friendly and better in quality. We do not only see this development in the premium segment.
User experience is the new horsepower. Connectivity, infotainment features, and functions, as well as human-machine interaction design, are already decisive factors for car buyers. With the electrification of the drivetrain and automated driving, this trend is increasing drastically. The cockpit is becoming a new living space and vehicles turn into smartphones on wheels. For us, this leads to a profound transformation of products, processes, and business models. For us, the focus in the automotive industry is shifting from hardware to software».
