We’ve come a long way since Karl Benz invented the first commercially available horseless carriage back in 1886, and 127 years later we have cars that are internet-enabled, are synched to your smartphone, some that have pedestrian airbags, and some that are very close to being completely self-driven.
But what does the future hold? Possibly in the distant future we’ll have wheel-less levitating cars with collision-avoiding force fields just like you see in sci-fi movies, but on the more forseeable horizon social connectivity seems to be one of the major themes.
SAFETY REVOLUTION
For instance, a parked vehicle could signal to children that a road is safe to cross or, if they are lost, even point them in the right direction. When crossing a traffic lane, a car could send signals to the traffic infrastructure allowing other vehicles to slow down.
“Virtual crosswalk” could make it possible to safely cross a road at any point.
It’s one of the ideas presented at the Future Talk In Berlin conference, in which experts from Daimler and specialists from different fields look ahead under the slogan “Future needs Utopia”.
GIVING BACK
This idea of “Giving Back to the City” came about because of the way people perceive cars which are often seen as the “bad guys” – for example when it comes to parking. Thus, the task was: how can we create a more positive perception of cars?
Another idea is making your car a mobile electronic billboard. Large screens on the sides of cars could serve as advertising pillars, providing information on the current location or saying something about the vehicle’s owner. Access to the digital world and unlimited communication would be possible without a smartphone 24 hours a day no matter where you were.
SELF-DRIVING CARS
Autonomous (self-driving) cars are just around the corner with the integration of electronically powered systems like the throttle, brakes, and steering with satellite navigation, and the soon-to-be-launched Mercedes S-class is expected to be the first production car that will be able to drive itself under certain conditions.
Future Talk discussed the implications of a human-robot co-existence from a socio-psychological point of view.
“There is certainly to consider the aspect of losing control; something that we human beings usually do not like that much,” said a spokesperson. “Will we get along with intelligent, autonomous robotic vehicles moving back and forth and around us? Can we trust them? Do they know more than we do? An autonomous system that decides for itself, its next steps which we as humans cannot predict, could also spread fear.”
THE HUMAN FACTOR
Philipp Hübl, Professor of Theoretical Philosophy at the University of Stuttgart continues: “Political and social utopias in the past failed largely because they went against human nature – whereas the technical visions usually came true. Anyone who wants to predict how people will live in the technological society of the future must understand what defines the very nature of a human being, independent of random or enforced circumstances or trends.”
CARCHITECTURE
With the dawn of electric cars comes the concept of carchitecture (combining cars and architecture) where, for instance, the vehicle’s plugged into the house and remaining energy in the car’s battery is used to supplement the electricity in the house.
Professor Dr Herbert Kohler, Vice President Group Research and Sustainability and Chief Environmental Officer at Daimler AG points out: “It is important to comprehend social trends and developments at an early stage and sift out the relevant aspects for an automobile manufacturer. This includes topics such as the changing user behavior of the customers as well as new opportunities and challenges due to increasing connectivity of the vehicle. -Star Motoring