New wireless capability for cars

Louise Davis

Seen for the first time in Europe, Hyundai has showcased its Intelligent Personal Cockpit in Geneva. The cockpit shows the company’s progress in connected car technology development and employs multiple cutting-edge technologies ranging from voice recognition Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) technology and even driver stress detection. 

New voice-recognition technology from SoundHound allows drivers to voice-control frequently used in-vehicle functions such as air-conditioning, sunroofs and door locks. In the future, there will be an entire suite of new voice-control capabilities inside the Intelligent Personal Cockpit including Car-to-Home IoT capability. This extends the reach of the driver’s voice beyond mobile applications and into the home environment. With voice commands, a driver cannot only play music in the car, but also turn on the lights at home and stream that same song right to their home audio system for a seamless transition from driveway to living room.

The Intelligent Personal Cockpit goes a step beyond most other voice recognition technology with the multiple-command recognition function. The system recognises two separate commands of the driver in the same sentence and completes each task separately.

The Intelligent Personal Cockpit can act as a proactive assistant system, predicting the driver’s needs and providing useful information. For example, the system may give an early reminder of an upcoming meeting and suggest departure times that take current traffic conditions into account.

Another important technology embedded in the Intelligent Personal Cockpit is Wellness Care. The function utilises two sensors placed on the steering wheel and the seat. The sensors monitor heart rate for sudden changes and may detect driver stress levels. If the sensors detect stress, the system is equipped to take action and provide access to online visual consultation with a doctor or simply turn on a soothing playlist while dimming the cabin lighting for a more comfortable driving experience.

Developed by Hyundai’s In-house start up called Tune!t, there are two additional advanced features as part of the IoT cockpit. The Smart Tuning Package enables the cockpit to turn into a personalised space. The seat position can be adjusted to the driver’s height, and music is chosen to driver’s preference using wireless IoT technology. Another striking feature is that you can open the door of the vehicle simply by knocking twice.

To develop the next generation of hyper-connected production vehicles Hyundai Motor is collaborating with Cisco. The unique automotive and IT collaboration is focused on technology solutions for in-vehicle data demands, which will increase exponentially with autonomous driving and other connectivity needs. The flexible expansion of connections to handle large data sets coming from various components in the vehicle simultaneously is ensured through ethernet-based software. Hyundai and Cisco have created a new platform that provides highly secure access to all the data in the vehicle. The platform utilises the first generation of 1Gps architectures and automotive ethernet with QoS allowing for maximised bandwidth. The system is highly configurable and secure – and offers the flexibility to design and build new services. It will also accelerate innovation, provide over-the-air-updates, and shorten the lifecycle in bringing new capabilities to market. 

 

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