Personalized, Reconfigurable Interiors in Shared Autonomous Vehicles

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By James Hodgson | 1Q 2017 | IN-4427

The year 2016 was a watershed year in autonomous vehicle development. It marked a significant industry transition away from the pursuit of gradually improving semi-autonomy in favor of a renewed push towards fully autonomous and driverless operation. As ABI Research described in previous reports entitled Car Sharing and the New IoE Transportation Service Economy (AN-1954) and Mobility as a Service (AN-2347), this will revolutionize the way in which transport is consumed; enabling users to abandon costly car ownership, and summon driverless vehicles when needed. In recent months, OEMs such as Ford, Tesla, BMW, and Volkswagen demonstrated their understanding of the implications for their established model; setting up new smart mobility sub-brands to manage transition from selling cars to providing the car as a service.

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Meeting the Individual Needs in Shared Vehicles

NEWS


The year 2016 was a watershed year in autonomous vehicle development. It marked a significant industry transition away from the pursuit of gradually improving semi-autonomy in favor of a renewed push towards fully autonomous and driverless operation. As ABI Research described in previous reports entitled Car Sharing and the New IoE Transportation Service Economy (AN-1954) and Mobility as a Service (AN-2347), this will revolutionize the way in which transport is consumed; enabling users to abandon costly car ownership, and summon driverless vehicles when needed. In recent months, OEMs such as Ford, Tesla, BMW, and Volkswagen demonstrated their understanding of the implications for their established model; setting up new smart mobility sub-brands to manage transition from selling cars to providing the Car as a Service.

Establishing these smart mobility sub-brands can help convince investors that OEMs are well-positioned to weather these storms, but it’s vital that the challenges they face not be underestimated. Aside from developing viable fully autonomous vehicles, OEMs must learn to manage demand response, authenticate users, and provide personal and dynamic in-vehicle experiences for each of the many consumers who will use their vehicles. Catering to the differing and dynamic tastes, preferences and needs of consumers in vehicles that they do not own will be key to drawing consumers out of vehicle ownership and into habitual use of the Car as a Service.

The Third Space

IMPACT


Completely removing the human from the driving process opens up whole new possibilities for what experiences can be achieved in the vehicle cabin, which can be thought of as a “third space” accompanying the home and workplace. A combination of numerous mechanical and electronic technologies will deliver these reconfigurable and adaptable spaces, many of which are already available in some consumer vehicles in a nascent sense. For example, numerous reconfigurable displays, such as those discussed in the ABI Research report Automotive Display Technologies: Touch Screens, HUDs, and Dynamic Clusters (AN-1953) will allow for personalized digital experiences, with rich multimedia content being streamed on large embedded displays. Vendors like Cinemo already developed robust automotive grade middleware to support demanding multimedia content streaming and synchronization across multiple displays. Here the technologies supporting vehicle automation will play an important role, for example, high-bandwidth, low latency 5G connectivity.

Further adaptability will come from other automotive megatrends, for example, electric powertrains, which make it possible to construct vehicle cabins with flat bases. This in turn makes it easier to integrate flexible and reconfigurable seating, such that the vehicle can be place for social interaction, private relaxation, or even sleep. Volvo’s collaboration with Microsoft to incorporate the Office Suite into its vehicles demonstrates that the shared, autonomous vehicle will be as much a space for working as it will for leisure and relaxation.

Finally, on top of car sharing, OEMs must consider the implications of ride sharing on the in-vehicle experience. In ride sharing vehicles, which provide mobility to more than one user at once, OEMs must meet the divergent requirements of each individual occupant concurrently through unique sound zones and support for simultaneous playback of different multimedia. Alternatively, vehicle routing and allocation algorithms must take into consideration user tastes and preferences in order to match users who are likely to enjoy a common digital experience. The challenges that rideshare vehicles present OEMs will be the topic of a forthcoming insight.

The Chrysler Portal

COMMENTARY


The Chrysler Portal demoed at CES 2017 was billed as a car designed “by millennials for millennials”. Given that this demographic will likely be the first major adopters of shared autonomous transport, the concept has some important takeaways. Chrysler’s design ethos clearly revolves around helping the vehicle user to take advantage of the opportunities presented by highly automated driving. Seats that can be easily rearranged and removed, combined with sliding doors, allow the Portal’s primary use case to be changed from people transit to goods transit. Meanwhile, Personal Zoned Audio facilitates multiply distinct multimedia experiences within the cabin, which has obvious relevance to managing the interiors of ridesharing vehicles. All of this means that Chrysler’s failure to mention ride sharing or even car sharing during its demonstration is astonishing to say the least. Nevertheless, if Chrysler wishes to retain its position as vehicle supplier to Waymo, it must develop interiors geared towards the shared, autonomous vehicle.

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