The Immersive Experience
By Greg Bohl
What is the immersive experience with a vehicle? A driver today wants their car to know all about them without actively telling or programming the car to match or meet their preferences and behavior. They want the car to know who they are the minute they walk up to and sit down in the car. Then, based on that knowledge and confirmation, have the car adjust the cabin to their preferences, adjust the performance to their driving styles based on the road and time of day, calm them down when they are upset, wake them up if they get drowsy, tell them where they can stop for their favorite food or hot beverage, and the list goes on. In short, be fully immersed in who and what they are when in their car, or any car for that matter. Jaguar/Land Rover has already made great strides with their Self-Learning car by taking us to the first step. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg for the immersive experience. Cars today are being designed with cameras and sensors to detect everything from eyelid flutter to body temperature and heart rates via wearables. These innovations are being put into the cars at a record pace as OEMs strive to be the leaders in the newest technologies.
So what kind of software systems will it take to move the full immersive experience from the lab to reality? How will the OEMs make this happen? Much of it is designing and developing predictive and prescriptive data models or algorithms running on-board the car. These algorithms can sort through the thousands if not millions of data elements produced by the cars sensors, enrich the data, and then compare the enriched data against historical uses and patterns. This becomes AI in the car and AI is moving in at the same rapid pace as the innovations are. To make Machine Learning (ML) and therefore AI function in the car it also takes a well designed processor(s) to facilitate this level of on-board computing. As an example of what’s being done, take a look at the NVIDIA AI Co-Pilot. In this video NVIDIA demos face recognition, head tracking, gaze tracking, and lip reading. All components needed for an immersive experience in the car. While NVIDIA’s AI car platform has built-in algorithms, the level of additional development is needed and is wide open to innovators. OEMs who leverage this type of technology combined with predictive and perspective models will deliver the immersive experience needed for the next generation car.