Cars and trucks surpassed the basic need for transportation — getting us from A to B — decades ago when manufacturers started loading them up with stereos, cruise control and the like.
There was a time when air conditioning was a luxury, but it’s standard equipment now in all but the most inexpensive vehicles. Innovations that seemed like something from Flash Gordon, like Bluetooth integration, back-up cameras and the ability to control the stereo with your voice are passé in 2010.
Today’s manufacturers are introducing technology into our vehicles that touches every aspect of your driving experience. And the thing about technology: it doesn’t take long for today’s hottest new feature to become standard equipment in just a few years. Here are two cool innovations introduced this year that will probably be standard in the near future.
Mercedes Attention Assist
In a 2005 report, the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators found that nearly 20 percent of all collisions were the result of fatigue behind the wheel.
It’s not surprising, Canadians love a good road trip and putting in three hours behind the wheel or more isn’t unusual even in a daily commute.
Mercedes Attention Assist monitors 72 parametres of the driver’s habits including speed, longitude/lateral acceleration, time of day and a highly sensitive steering angle sensor registers steering movements and steering speed.
The system creates a profile of the driver after 20 minutes of driving and if it detects a change in habits it recognizes as fatigue, an alarm sounds and a message appears — along with a coffee cup graphic — on the dash asking you to take a break.
Toyota/Lexus Touch Tracer
Toyota came up with pretty neat way to help keep our eyes looking at the road instead of the steering wheel. Their Touch Tracer technology (photo above) seems so simple but it works incredibly well.
When you activate one of the steering wheel mounted controls, a holographic image appears over the speedometre.
The display appears instantly almost like there’s a mini Kreskin hiding behind the dash anticipating that you’ll be adjusting the temperature or adjusting what trip information is shown. Two blue circles appear, mimicking the shape of the controls on the steering wheel and the button you’re pushing is highlighted in orange. Once you’re done using the button the two circles go away as quickly as they came.
It’s a simple concept but it does wonders for keeping your eyes on the road.
