Connected car wear for people is the latest trend in connected car technology. Recently, connected car integration from car and tech makers included Google Glass and smartwatches with more technology coming in the future.
New Connected Car Wearables Released or Announced Recently:
- Hyundai Blue Link Intelligent Assistant app works with Google Glass, to start and turn off your car, lock and unlock the doors and preheat or cool the inside.
- Mercedes Digital DriveStyle app for Pebble smartwatch– Mercedes-Benz drivers can check gas level, door-lock status, and vehicle location. The Pebble smartwatch inside the car , alerts its driver to real-time hazards through V2V technology. User can program the three watch buttons to activate reporting hazards, auto-routing, Siri activation, remote-controlling media, or quickly showing nearby traffic conditions for the DriveStyle app.
- BMW i3 EV Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch app -the Samsung Galaxy Gear with BMW i3 Remote App works like the BMW i3 Remote App. Using a Samsung Galaxy Gear, a driver of a BMW i3 can see battery charge information, departure times and if windows/doors/sunroof are closed. The Gear can send navigation to the BMW and set the temperature of the car before leaving.
- Nissan Nismo – is a concept smartwatch that shows biometric information from the driver’s body(heartrate), vehicle diagnostics, fuel data, ave and performance data. The device was announced in September 2013 and has not been seen, since.
- Harman Smart Mirror ADAS Google Glass communication – alerts and updates from the Advanced Driver Assistant Services o are sent directly to the Google Glass. The ADAS uses camera data and sensors to detect road hazards. If ADAS calculates danger of collisions or other problems, it sends a audio-visual warning to the driver’s Google Glass. NOTE: This is not a good idea in states territories where wearing Google Glass while driving legislation is in the works.
- INRIX’s Traffic Google Glass app – when connected through Google Glass the drive receives notifications of congestion or incidents and can get re-routing information. The driver can report incidents with photos and through via voice commands inform others of arrival times.
The next phase of HMI (Human Machine Integration) includes gesture recognition, eye-control and augmented reality functions.
Advocates of wearable connected car tech contend that it is not the form-factor which should be banned but certain use cases such as watching videos.
They also believe that eyewear used as dash cams or to shows a blind spot or collision safety alerts should be allowed to promote safety.
Wearable technology could also contribute to profits in the connected car aftermarket.
By 2019 wearable connected car tech alone or connected through smartphones will be able to connect 90% of auto worldwide.