Audi
has ramped up efforts for developing autonomous car technology
lately, testing several self-driving car prototypes over the past few
years, and has demonstrated its commitment to making automated
driving a reality on several occasions. Along with automated vehicle
systems, the German car maker is working on technology that would
enable seamless communication between driverless cars and their
owners. To this end, they have developed a smart device that can be
used to control various systems of a self-driving car.
The
company unveiled a smartwatch at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las
Vegas, which was developed in collaboration with South Korean
electronics company LG, and is imagined as a perfect complement for
the German manufacturers autonomous vehicles it intends to bring to
the market in the future. It is part of the Smartwatch Audi
Collection, and is thought to be loosely based on the G Watch R,
which LG released a while ago. Audi demonstrated how the smartwatch
works with the help of its A7 driverless prototype - a four-door
coupe that can accelerate, brake, and change lanes on its own.
Prof.
Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, who conducted the presentation, didn't release
too many details on the smartwatch's functions, but he did uncover
the basic and perhaps most valuable one - the ability to lock and
unlock the car remotely. It's a pretty convenient feature, albeit not
nearly enough for a company to develop such a device, considering
that it would make much more sense to add that kind of feature to an
existing smartphone, rather than launching an entirely new product.
With
this smartwach, that will likely be able to connect to all
smartphones that run on the latest Android OS, an Audi owner will be
able to lock and unlock their car's doors without having to be
anywhere near it, and will probably not have to use a traditional car
key anymore. The device interacts with the car through Near Field
Communication (NFC) technology, which allows it to lock and unlock
the doors even if its battery is empty. It uses push notifications to
let you know when you have left the car without locking it, so you
can just press a button on it in order to lock the doors, without
having to go back to the car to do it.
In
addition to the lock and unlock feature, the smartwach can be used as
a phone, as well, as it comes with a text messaging app and a dialer.
Also, users will be able to send and receive emails with it, and turn
the car's air conditioning on and off. This means that you could
change the temperature inside your car before entering it, so that
when you get in, it is nice and warm, or cool, depending on your
preferences and what time of year it is, without having to turn the
engine on.
This
does make the device seem pretty simple and not too sophisticated,
but considering that it has the potential to enable remote control of
a vehicle's most important systems, it can be regarded as a pretty
innovative product. It's only a prototype at the moment, and Audi is
expected to integrate many more features into it, that could include
location tracking or car maintenance apps, along with information on
traffic and road conditions in real time.
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