Intelligent in-vehicle infotainment The key differentiator Intelligent in-vehicle infotainment The key differ

Special Feature
Intelligent in-vehicle infotainment:
The key differentiator
With rapid growth in smart phone and Cloud technologies, consumers are
clamoring for live streaming of music, Internet radio and smart phones. Ideas
for advanced infotainment features integrate both user behaviour and the next
level of data based infotainment systems, says Vageesh Kumar.
A
utomotive infotainment
is one of the fastest
growing technologies
in the industry a growth
trend expected to continue
with the smart phones technology boom.
Consumers want PC-like responsiveness,
human-machine interface and power from
every device on the go. Meeting this
growing demand for the best possible
consumer experience within time to
market demands, is increasingly falling
in the infotainment domain.
Infotainment units are hardware
devices used in vehicles to provide
navigation, connectivity and audio-visual
entertainment. Most vehicles nowadays
have infotainment for entertainment,
connected with devices such as personal
navigation systems and smart phones
with a hands-free car kit. Smart phone
connectivity bridges the product life cycle
gap between car infotainment systems
and smart phones. It utilises the advances
made in a rapidly expanding smart phone
based infotainment system. IVI features
include, handset integration, head-up
display, infotainment systems for driver
assistance, interior personalisation and
Cloud based infotainment. The million
dollar question is, can a smart phone
replace all systems used in the car, from
dashboards and navigation systems to car
audios and telematics?
Integrating technology to support
multiple features or systems is not a new
idea. Indeed, many automotive component
suppliers are involved in integrating the
existing car navigation system with the
car audio and the mobile phone, using
a handsfree kit or Bluetooth. Fresh
thinking and focus is all that is required
to bring about a change in the automotive
infotainment domain. Including a cluster
dashboard in the integrated solution with a
smart phone could well be the future trend.
The possibility of standardisations, with
MirrorLink, which uses Virtual Network
Computing (VNC), has added strength to
handset integration.
Infotainment systems are not only
used in entertainment, they are also used
in road assistance for driver safety, with
features such as video & data recording
from rear view & night vision cameras and
black box recording. Add an augmented
reality head-up display and you not only
have a driver that stays focused on the
screen, but also one that assimilates more
information on the move. There is a huge
and growing market opportunity for IVI
systems that create a superior in-car user
experience. The interlacing of the car’s
IVI system with the driver’s mobile device
and applications can help achieve that
connected car experience. The main mobile
applications used for music streaming
include Spotify and iTunes, with each
media player using different methods to
get user experience data.
This convergence enables the creation
of innovative applications which interact
with the electronics control unit for remote
monitoring and control in-car multimedia
experiences, navigation and internet
connectivity. Intelligence in IVI can be
used in various scenarios and with different
implementation approaches:
Proposed approach
With rapid growth in smart phone and
Cloud technologies, consumers are
clamoring for live streaming of music,
Internet radio and smart phones. Ideas for
advanced infotainment features integrate
both user behaviour and the next level of
data based infotainment systems. They
can: a) Add power to IVI by manually
personalising the media source playlist or
4 0 Automotive Products Finder | july 2018 | www.APFIndia.com