To really get the benefits from smart, connected and autonomous vehicles, cities will need to make big changes. But they face big barriers to this evolution.
I spoke to experts from the Smart Cities Council, Smart City Works, and the oneTransport initiative to find out whether cities are up to the challenge.
It’s becoming clear that level 3 #autonomous driving won’t be much fun — or very safe. Drivers will be expected to pay attention and stay ready to take control in an emergency, so what’s the point?
Experts explain why we’ll see a mix of truly autonomous vehicles and more advanced driver safety features instead of what has been proposed as the third level.
Driverless Vehicles Will Continue to Dominate Auto Headlines
I talked with robotics researchers working on aspects of autonomous cars. Turns out, soccer is harder than driving.
Evidently, whether self-driving cars will need to be connected to external databases, maps or whatever is a matter of contention. I always thought they would, to access real-time maps, traffic and road info, etc. In the world of research, however, “autonomous” means the vehicle has no need to connect to any external systems. This article examines how real-world autonomous cars will make use of their persistent connections.
Autonomous and Connected: Better Together
I think I deserve props for not using that Reese’s P-butter Cups analogy. : )
There’s not as much hype about big data in the auto industry as there is in marketing, but, for sure, connected vehicles will generate big, big data. This article discusses the barriers to making use of it and business-case questions still to be answered.
Security is lagging behind tech when it comes to highly computerized automobiles. Chris Valasek, director of vehicle security research at IOActive, and security expert Charlie Miller recently released a research paper titled “A Survey of Remote Automotive Attack Surfaces” that details all the different fronts on which automotive systems could be hacked. I talked to him about whether there’s really a problem and how bad it could be.
Providing same-day coverage of conferences keeps me focused and thinking, as I try to make connections between what different speakers say and identify trending topics. I recently wrote same-day wrap-ups of FC Business Intelligence’s Insurance Telematics USA conference. (Insurance telematics, also known as usage-based insurance or UBI) refers to the various hardware and software applications that let insurers get an accurate view of customers’ driving behavior.)
Day One: Data, Data Everywhere as UBI Becomes Ubiquitous
Day Two: What UBI Do People Really Want?
Auto dealerships theoretically could benefit from services for internet-connected cars that would, for example, alert the dealer when a car needs servicing. In practice, dealers are really wary of new products like Ford Sync, Hyundai BlueLink, or BMW ConnectedDrive. They’re hard to sell and harder to support. This article examines the challenges and opportunities.
The New Dealers: Selling Telematics to Car Dealers
Gamification — using elements of play to make tasks more engaging, interesting and/or rewarding — certainly works for me. The task for auto makers and insurance companies is to use gamification to encourage good driving behaviors without being distracting.