Honda wants to surprise even its most loyal customers. After years of unimpressive car interior design, the automaker is pushing forward with a new goal: to watch you closely. Here’s what’s going to happen and how you’ll be able to control your new sensible Japanese vehicle.
A United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) filling published on the 8th of February shows Honda is getting ready for a major revamp of its vehicles’ cabins. The recent technology it plans on implementing is composed from various systems. They will, as the filling shows, help the driver to pay more attention to the road.
Honda argues that drivers today are being bombarded with features that demand their attention too much. The cognitive load of these functions combined with the additional distractions that come with operating a vehicle result in a driver that’s not paying enough attention to its surroundings. The Japanese carmaker seeks to change this situation by implementing a couple of more safety and assistance systems.
For starters, Honda wants you to keep your eyes on the road at all times. Here the carmaker will install more sensors and cameras that will have a 360-degree view of the cabin. They will be used to watch over you and detect if you’re reaching for your phone. Do that and the car will start beeping at you. It will also flash a warning sign on the dashboard. At the same time, if you or your passenger get tired, the newer models will suggest stopping or doing in-car activities for refreshing yourselves. In extreme cases, it will allow the car to take temporary control and safely stop on the side of the road while calling the emergency services and automatically sending your location.
The Japanese carmaker will also implement gesture controls like we’ve seen on newer BMWs and other German cars. Users will be able to take or cancel calls, change different menus, adjust the volume, change the lighting, switch from radio to USB or other apps, and do many more things without touching the screen or a button.
This whole new system will learn from the driver and adjust in such a way that it’ll make the right suggestions all the time. It will also allow itself to be personalized as the owner wishes.
The USPTO filling also shows Honda’s planning to integrate a lot of new sensors in its cars. The newer models will be able to know the weather and adjust the interior climate, guarantee access by fingerprint, cancel road, engine, or tire noise, learn new commands and identify places visited often for a proper settings adjustment.
Honda argues that drivers today are being bombarded with features that demand their attention too much. The cognitive load of these functions combined with the additional distractions that come with operating a vehicle result in a driver that’s not paying enough attention to its surroundings. The Japanese carmaker seeks to change this situation by implementing a couple of more safety and assistance systems.
For starters, Honda wants you to keep your eyes on the road at all times. Here the carmaker will install more sensors and cameras that will have a 360-degree view of the cabin. They will be used to watch over you and detect if you’re reaching for your phone. Do that and the car will start beeping at you. It will also flash a warning sign on the dashboard. At the same time, if you or your passenger get tired, the newer models will suggest stopping or doing in-car activities for refreshing yourselves. In extreme cases, it will allow the car to take temporary control and safely stop on the side of the road while calling the emergency services and automatically sending your location.
The Japanese carmaker will also implement gesture controls like we’ve seen on newer BMWs and other German cars. Users will be able to take or cancel calls, change different menus, adjust the volume, change the lighting, switch from radio to USB or other apps, and do many more things without touching the screen or a button.
This whole new system will learn from the driver and adjust in such a way that it’ll make the right suggestions all the time. It will also allow itself to be personalized as the owner wishes.
The USPTO filling also shows Honda’s planning to integrate a lot of new sensors in its cars. The newer models will be able to know the weather and adjust the interior climate, guarantee access by fingerprint, cancel road, engine, or tire noise, learn new commands and identify places visited often for a proper settings adjustment.