Goodbye car, hello mobile living space
You can already use Amazon's Alexa home assistant to ask questions about your BMW or Google's smart speaker to check in verbally on your Mercedes' well-being. But, according to Bosch -- the world's biggest automotive supplier -- that's just the start.
Bosch has taken the wraps off a new connected concept show car that demonstrates how quickly technological innovations are already shaping the future of the automobile and redefining its relationship with owners.
Rather than simply being a smart device connected to the internet of things, the car is poised to become a smart, voice-activated personal assistant in its own right. Thanks to cabin cameras, sensors and a cloud connection, Bosch's car recognizes each individual driver as he or she gets into the car, adjusts the seats and settings appropriately and starts offering up help and information tailored to that user's tastes and needs.
"The connectivity of cars with their surroundings and with the internet is a key challenge for future mobility," said Dr. Dirk Hoheisel, member of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH.
However, as this show car is intended to demonstrate, if the challenges can be overcome, the result will be a moving living space that offers personalization well beyond knowing which songs to cue up or which sports results to display.
For instance, as well as car components, Bosch makes everything from kitchen appliances to industrial tools and this show car connects all of those devices, literally.
Once the car is in full autonomous mode it will let the driver turned passenger remotely operate home appliances -- for example, look inside the connected fridge to see what to add to the grocery list, or remotely turn on the smart oven and then dictate a text message telling the rest of the family what's for dinner and when it will be ready.
"We are making connectivity a personal experience and giving people more time for actual living, even while driving their car," said Hoheisel.
