Smart car technology and the generational divide

With every passing year, smart car technology becomes more of a deal-breaker with consumers. From safety features to voice technology, the options get more compelling – and non-vehicle digital tech keeps elevating car buyers’ expectations. If they can have it at their desks or on their couches, why should they expect less for their vehicles?

A generational chasm over smart car tech

In GfK’s latest Auto Tech Insights research for the US market, 8 in 10 US auto intenders – those who plan to buy or lease a new vehicle – say they would “probably” or “definitely” consider abandoning a favorite vehicle or automaker to get the latest smart car technology. The figures are startling, but we should not be surprised. Brand loyalty has its limits, and a lot depends on what is at stake – dollar savings, or self-image, or even pure whim and indulgence.

Smart technology has altered the consumer landscape. Ten years ago, who knew that everyday shoppers would soon pay $1,000 for a new phone, or hundreds of dollars a month just for TV and internet service? Always-on access and the devices that go with it have come to define us as consumers – even more, some would say, than the cars we drive or the clothes we wear.

This is true not just in the US, but around the world, where we see that technology performance is a driver of the rich experiences consumers crave. Global Point of Sale (POS) data from GfK shows that smartphones with large (6” to 7”) displays captured 73% of all category sales in the first three quarters of 2019, while PCs with full HD accounted for 79% of sales in that vertical. And GfK Consumer Life research shows that almost half of global consumers say they are prepared to pay more for products that make life easier. It is not surprising that GfK would want to extend these “premium” tech perks to their cars.

In the US, though, one of the most striking findings about auto intenders and tech obsession is the remarkable chasm we see between the youngest and oldest car buyers. Willingness to abandon established brands in favor of smart car technology is strongest among young intenders; close to 4 in 10 from Gen Y (ages 23 to 41) say they would definitely consider a brand switch. Close to half (47%) among Gen Z (ages 18 to 22) would change their minds based on tech features.

On the other side of the age spectrum, though, just 15% of US Baby Boomers (ages 54 and above) would consider defecting from a beloved brand to get connected technology or digital safety features in their cars. Younger auto intenders are also much more likely to say that they have already made a car purchase that was influenced by smart tech availability. Overall, four in ten (44%) intenders reported this effect – but gaps of 20 to 25 percentage points separated Gens Y and Z from the Boomers and Gen X. For example, 59% of Gen Y said they had already been influenced, compared to just 33% of Boomers.

Among those who had defected to get smart devices and services, the technologies responsible were slightly different across the generations. Baby Boomers and Gen X were more likely to switch brands for the sake of Infotainment Systems, and Gen Y was slightly less inclined to seek out Active Safety Technology – although safety features were still the biggest draw across the full population. The desire for Connected Vehicle tech was essentially even across the age groups.

Gen Z would “love” to be driven

Autonomous driving and electric vehicles are slowly winning acceptance, with one in six intenders seeing them as essential today. But younger intenders are more likely to say they are “curious” about electric or hybrid vehicles, and the generational differences get even wider when it comes to reporting they would “love it if vehicles could just drive themselves” – with 52% of Gen Z agreeing fully or somewhat, versus just 19% of Boomers.

The implications of this remarkable age divide are nothing less than transformational for automakers. As much as they may know that digital technology is the game that matters most, it seems as if they simply cannot put too much emphasis on these emerging essentials, especially safety, connected, and infotainment capabilities. The next generations of car buyers will shift the argument even more in this direction, and automakers need to stay relevant at all costs. There are no laurels to rest on – just digital mountains to climb.

Smart Cars: The Next Big Breakthrough for the Intelligent Driving Technologies

Smart Cars: The Next Big Breakthrough for the Intelligent Driving Technologies

Connected Technology-driven Mobility Could be a Reality.

Smart (marque), the automobile brand of Mercedes-Benz and watchmaker Swatch. Autonomous car, an automobile capable of driving itself. Connected car, an automobile that coordinates its navigation with others’ Vehicular automation, using artificial intelligence to enhance or automate control of a vehicle.

Smart Cars, also known as intelligent cars, are vehicles that are equipped with system-managed inventive forms of artificial intelligence with independent thought and action, and there is the possibility that the extensive use of intelligent and technologically innovative cars would help to make roadways which is used by vehicles much safer than they are today.

The idea of a smart car has been around for quite some time. While the ambition to make a reality of the ultimate smart car with highly developed artificial intelligence, is the one that drives independently and by itself, is still few years away as current developments are not quite as advanced as those envisioned, and technology companies are continuing efforts which has led to a number of car innovations that are currently being tested.

Smart car needs to sense its environment, navigate and react without human interaction and many of the features envisioned for smart car production have to do with protecting the driver as well as other vehicles, pedestrian and other expected and unexpected things on the road . One example is a camera mounted on the windshield takes care of helping the car ‘see’ objects right in front of it. These include the usual suspects- pedestrians, and other motorists. This camera also detects and records information about road signs and traffic lights, which is intelligently interpreted by the car’s in built software. Predetermined shape and motion descriptors are programmed into the car’s central processing system to help the car make intelligent decisions. For instance, if the car detects a 2 wheel object and determines the speed of the object as 10mph rather than 50 mph, the car instantly interprets that this vehicle is a bicycle and not a motorbike and behaves accordingly. Also a lane departure warning system that activates when ongoing traffic in the lane is present is another feature that would help drivers avoid accidents and remain safe.

The concept of intelligent and connected vehicles was demonstrated by telecom-equipment giant Huawei Technologies Co. and partners where a self-driving bus travels back and forth, making stops, moving-off from obstacles, accelerating and decelerating, based on the information it constantly receives from its surroundings. Embedded in the road, traffic lights, street signs and other infrastructure are sensors, cameras and radars that talk with the vehicle.

Codenamed X-Bus, the vehicle is linked to a transportation-control network that sees and decides everything that happens on the test road. The communication is two-way: the bus constantly sends information to the network and can make requests such as favorable traffic lights to help it stay on schedule. Though the bus is largely autonomous, a human safety driver sits behind the wheel and is ready to take control if needed.

In a related move, Chip startups such as Horizon Robotics and Shanghai Westwell Lab Information Technology Co. are testing auto-driving technologies with the help of AI processors and algorithms. Further Beijing-based Horizon Robotics Inc. and Great Wall Motor Co., China’s top maker of sport utility vehicles, are teaming up to cooperate on intelligent driving technologies, including autonomous systems. Great Wall has been stepping up its investments in this area as it transforms from a traditional vehicle assembler to a technology-driven mobility company. It unveiled its Smart Coffee brand in July, calling it the “digital engine” of its transition and Horizon makes chips that power autonomous-driving vehicles.

Efforts to create a smart car for mass production is ongoing and some companies are also involved in the continuing efforts to develop the ultimate smart car. While the wide-scale use of such systems is still few years away, technology companies including Amazon, Apple, Google, etc. around the globe are making progress in testing autonomous cars on public roads without a safety driver. Among the other features currently under development include the ability of the car to drive safely without the input of a human driver, and a monitoring system that would effectively detect collisions and avoid obstacles. There are also efforts to develop two way communication with traffic infrastructure systems that would allow vehicles to detect and interpret traffic signals, signs posted along the side of the road with the aid of sensors, cameras and radars that talk with the vehicle to ensure connected mobility.

New technology gives smart cars 'x-ray'-like vision

The autonomous vehicle uses game changing tools that allows it to ‘’see the world around it using x-ray style vision that penetrates through to pedestrian blind spots.

The technology has been developed as part of a project funded by the iMOVE Cooperative Research Centre in collaboration with the University of Sydney’s Australian Centre for Field Robotics and Australian connected vehicle company Cohda Wireless. iMove has today released its new findings in a final report following three years of research and development.

The technology’s applications, which are being commercialised by Cohda, involve an emerging and promising technology for intelligent transportation systems (ITS) called cooperative or collective perception (CP).

Using roadside ITS information sharing units (‘ITS stations’), vehicles can share what they ‘see' with others using vehicle-to-X (V2X) communication.

This system significantly increases the vehicles’ range of perception by allowing them to tap into various viewpoints.

The engineers and scientists developing the technology said it could benefit all vehicles, not just those connected to such a system.

"This is a game changer for both human-operated and autonomous vehicles which we hope will substantially improve the efficiency and safety of road transportation," said Professor Eduardo Nebot from the Australian Centre for Field Robotics.

“Using collective perception, the connected vehicle was able to track a pedestrian visually obstructed by a building. This was achieved seconds before its local perception sensors or the driver could possibly have seen the same pedestrian around the corner, providing extra time for the driver or the navigation stack to react to this safety hazard," he revealed.

Another experiment demonstrated how collective perception could allow vehicles to safely interact with walking pedestrians, with the vehicle’s response based on the perception information provided by the roadside ITS station.

The three-year project also demonstrated the expected behaviour of a connected vehicle when interacting with a pedestrian rushing towards a designated crossing area.

“Using the ITS system, the connected autonomous vehicle managed to take preemptive action: braking and stopping before the pedestrian crossing area based on the predicted movement of the pedestrian," Professor Nebot said.

“The pedestrian tracking, prediction, path planning and decision making were based on the perception information received from the ITS roadside stations.

"Collective perception enables the smart vehicles to break the physical and practical limitations of onboard perception sensors.”

The project’s lead researcher Dr Mao Shan said the research confirmed using CP could improve awareness of vulnerable road users and safety in many traffic scenarios.

“Our research has demonstrated that a connected vehicle can ‘see’ a pedestrian around corners. More importantly, we demonstrate how connected autonomous vehicles can safely interact with walking and running pedestrians, relying only on information from the ITS roadside station," he said.

Cohda Wireless Chief Technical Officer Professor Paul Alexander said the new technology could be a game changer for both human operated and autonomous vehicles.

“Collective perception enables the smart vehicles to break the physical and practical limitations of onboard perception sensors, and embrace improved perception quality and robustness,” Professor Alexander said.

iMOVE Managing Director Ian Christensen said the project was a great example of industry collaborating with scientists to develop new innovations for commercial and public good, not only for the benefit of Australians, but road users all over the world, including pedestrians and cyclists.

"When we bring industry and scientists together, we can achieve many great things as a nation. iMOVE CRC is proud to have initiated this exciting project and many others like it - which are all about getting our best and brightest minds working together to develop new technologies and innovations for real-world problems and needs," said Mr Christensen.

ABOUT iMOVE

iMOVE is the national centre for collaborative R&D in transport and mobility. It facilitates, supports and co-funds research projects that improve the way people and goods move in Australia. It has 44 industry, government and academic partners and has over 50 projects completed or currently underway in a broad range of transport areas.

ABOUT COHDA WIRELESS

Cohda Wireless is a global leader in the development of Connected Vehicles and Connected Autonomous Vehicle software with proven applications for Smart City, Mining, and other environments. Cohda’s technology connects vehicles with infrastructure and pedestrians to make streets, cities and working environments safer, smarter, and greener. Cohda is headquartered in Australia and has offices in Europe, China, and the USA.

DECLARATION

In 2017, the federal government granted a group of leading industry and research organisations known as the iMOVE Co-operative Research Centre (CRC), $55 million over ten years to explore intelligent transport systems.