The auto industry may have sped past its one-hundredth birthday. But as anyone who visits its research facilities and its first-tier suppliers in Detroit learns, there's no hardening of the arteries. Automotive-entertainment designers pursue innovation vigorously and enthusiastically. And despite the abundance of landmark technological breakthroughs under their belt, there's no end in sight.
After a half-dozen visits to such designers, one learns that certain themes keep repeating. For starters, they pay close attention to what's happening in the consumer industry, particularly to the technologies and specifications emerging right now—like DVD audio. Second, the early innovations in multimedia will undoubtedly be aimed at those with deeper pockets (see "Targeting The Prosperous," p. 84). Plus, designers are acutely aware of activity relating to bus specifications, such as IEEE 1394 and media-oriented system transport (MOST).
So it's not surprising that what they're designing in closely follows in the footsteps of the consumer electronics industry. Yet it also meets the rigorous automotive environmental requirements that are far more stringent than even those called for by the military.
Choosing which paths to pursue isn't easy (Fig. 1). "There are some 20 entertainment initiatives, such as MP3, Surroundsound, audio on demand, and satellite radio. I could go on, but the car will have to become compatible with them at some point," says David A. McNamara, manager of electrical/electronics systems engineering at Ford Motor Co., Dearborn, Mich. (See "Don't Touch That Dial," p. 86.)
The industry has come a long way since the time that Henry Ford took pride in the spartan features of the Model T—available only in black. Looking back, it was the high-compression engine that enabled increasing the size of vehicles. Much later on, the microprocessor ushered in the era of closed-loop engine controls and anti-skid brakes.
Now with the advent of the twenty-first century, all of the familiar scenarios that fall under the umbrella of multimedia will have a profound effect on what goes in the cockpit and rear seat, with regard to entertainment. Note that memory requirements are rising dramatically as more electronics find a permanent home in automotive vehicles (Fig. 2). In fact, The back seat is where it's happening. Automotive displays for both forward and back-seat locations illustrate this (Fig. 3).
DaimlerChrysler, Rochester Hills, Mich., has taken some large strides. The company has implemented its newest innovations in the Dodge MAXXcab, displayed at the 2000 Detroit Auto Show. (Fig. 4). "It's really a comfortable passenger truck with a very passenger-friendly interior," remarks Stephen J. Buckley, manager of electrical product innovation at DaimlerChrysler. "In the Dodge MAXXcab, we built an entire entertainment center into the rear seat of the vehicle. Actually, it's what we call an 'edutainment' system, geared toward children and young adults."
As Buckley explains, it enables passengers, regardless of age, to watch DVD movies and play CD-ROM games. There also is a touch-sensitive pad that passengers can take down from a bracket and place on their laps, enabling them to draw or do homework. Furthermore, because it's in the back seat, these monitors don't visually distract the driver.
Demand for any of these innovations begins in the home and then migrates to the world of the automobile. "People are expecting to have theater in the home. And there's no reason why they shouldn't expect it in their SUVs and vans, as well," says Cary A. Wilson, director of electrical/electronic systems engineering at Ford Motor Co.
But plenty of options still exist in the front seat. Drivers can use a telematics screen to access the Internet for weather and traffic information and road-hazard updates. Telematics means two-way, vehicle-based communications.
Additionally, those in the front have the ability to play Internet audio files because MP3 playback can be readily integrated into the radio, relying on either a Flash-memory card or a hard-disk drive. So, not only can the radio play cassettes and CDs, but MP3 as well. As for bringing MP3 into the vehicle, it can arrive on the hard disk of a PC or a PCMCIA card. Or, perhaps the program will be downloaded from the Internet via a high-speed wireless link.
Expressing pride in the company's concept car, Buckley points out that usually a designer will dream up something like this, but just put in graphics. "If you look at a lot of other concept cars, they are often fake on the inside," Buckley notes.
"We get more value out of our concept car by building these things as functional devices," Buckley adds. "So we can actually experience the design, to see if it really makes sense to provide the driver with this kind of information. And, do kids really want to play video games in the back seat? So we go the extra mile, actually building functional properties and then testing users' reactions to them."
Some 300 miles to the southwest of the motor city is Delphi Automotive Systems (formerly Delco) in Kokomo, Ind. The company first introduced entertainment systems into General Motors' vehicles in 1998 using VHS playback. Robert W. Schumacher, general director of the mobile multimedia/business line, points out that multimedia entertainment systems have already achieved high penetration in sport utilities and minivans. He expects such systems to move quickly from VHS to DVD and sees DVD taking over as the primary video playback mode. As Schumacher notes, DVD works much better in the car because the DVD playback mechanism is more compact, more rugged, and therefore, much better suited to the automotive environment.
But with all these newfangled technologies in-vading the car, who's looking after passenger safety? Part of the answer lies in bringing voice-recognition and text-to-voice capabilities to the electronic entertainment mix.