In the beginning was the horse, next came the horse drawn carriage, then someone decided the horse wasn’t necessary, and VROOM! The car was born.
Early automobiles had one main function, get passengers from point A to B; comfort and safety were of secondary importance for manufacturers of those times. Cruise forward to 2015, and the vehicles being produced are gradually becoming computers that aid the process of transportation. Cars have become symbols of style, comfort, and cutting edge innovation.
Here are some of the features and amazing tech behind the cars of today that makes them truly wonders on wheels:
CONNECTIVITY
Surfing the net, hotel and restaurant reservations, flight bookings, accessing real time traffic information, or even phone calls can now be done from the car without using a mobile device. But in keeping with the internet of things, cars are now connected to mobile devices using permanently installed SIMs and yearly subscriptions, drivers can perform tasks like remote starting, controlling the car’s interior temperature, transfer location addresses, turn on headlights and horning all from a mobile device.
DRIVER ASSISTANCE
Drivers are now aided by Driver Assistance features like:
Heads Up Displays: These project information like current speed, road traffic signs captured by the cars inbuilt camera, speed limit info and navigation information directly to the car windscreen so drivers can keep their eyes on the road.
Traffic Jam Assistance: In situations of heavy traffic, cars can now automatically maintain desired distances from other cars and regulate speed- even to braking to stand still.
Night Vision: Thermal imaging cameras are now being integrated in cars to enable drivers see pedestrians and animals in low light situations.
Hands Free Parking: Using rearview cameras and ultrasonic sensors cars can aid drivers in locating and maneuvering into parking spots without the driver using the steering wheel.
PASSENGER COMFORT
Cars are now designed with an emphasis on passenger comfort. Interior environmental conditions are now controlled by systems that monitor factors like temperature and CO2 levels and auto-adjust to ideal levels. Features like Wifi, massage seats, head rest monitors with headphone jacks connections are also available.
SAFETY
To ensure safety wheel systems aided by cameras detect bumps and act to quell them. Collision warning systems also detect cars in a driver’s blind spot and send warnings to prevent collisions. In emergency situations accident proof phones in the vehicle automatically place a call to emergency centers while sending location information. All this is done independent of the driver’s mobile phone.
With these features in commercially produced cars, companies like Google already testing prototypes of self-driving cars, and other companies working on flying cars, it won’t be long before we can all get a real life IRON MAN suit. JARVIS what’s the weather forecast for today?