Interview with Mr. R R Bipin, VP-Digital Services-IoT, Product Engineering Business, Tata Elxsi
1. What do you see the penetration of wearable technology in automotive products and its impact?
Wearable products were available in the market for long but recently the integration of wearables into automotive products is seeing a lot of traction. There is an increased trend among car OEMs and technology companies to bring wearables into the mainstream. The main advantage it gives is ease at which the user can access info and access entertainment on the go. Studies say that by 2019 there will be over 90% penetration for wearable technology integration. This will definitely be the next big wave in automotive world after the smart phone integration. Wearable technology will be inevitably interface directly or via phones with new vehicles. Car makers like Mercedes, Ford, Nissan, BMW, Hyundai etc are in the forefront to bring new innovative wearable technologies for the end users ably supported by component makers and other technology companies. The ultimate impact of wearable technology will be to bring in more comfort features and at the same time minimize driver distraction.
2. What are the important features of this trend and how it will benefit users?
Wearable technology can be considered as a disruptive technology which can revolutionize the automotive industry. Smart integration of wearables will bring a large number of benefits in the areas of safety, infotainment experiences, and more. Today wearable technologies consist of Smart watches, devices like Google Glass and Bands which is used for active health monitoring and reporting. Typical use cases include smart watch when integrated to vehicle will help users monitor fuel efficiency, receive custom car messages, door lock/unlock status, average speed, capturing biometric data via heart rate monitor etc. In addition to this car makers are also trying to bring information from smartphone apps directly to smart watches while adding few additional features which can be easily controlled from the wrist. While the auto world is still contemplating the use of Google glass while driving, most of them have started working on applications which could make driving more convenient and safer.
3. What is the future potential of this technology?
Wearable technology may be still at the introduction stage but it provides enormous opportunities for growth in the years to come. Studies indicate that by 2019 there will be more takers for wearable devices compared to smartphone integration and this will eventually prompt car makers to bring these features to their car lines. However, the use of wearables in cars is debated with many governments dismissing them on safety grounds. Legislation banning eyewear is already prepared in several U.S. states and in the UK. Eyewear functioning as dash cams or for displaying blind spot or collision safety alerts will contribute to safer driving, not deter it. At the same time wearables will kick start a thriving after-market connected car application ecosystem.
However the main challenge from R&D per se which design companies and product manufacturers will face is to make the wearable devices look sleek, miniaturized, compact and at the same time make it look fashionable and offer all the required functions. Currently, companies have attempted to innovate and incorporate various value features. However the devices start to look gadgety and bulky. Also variety of product range should also be available as all products are driven by customized components and the product development takes huge investment
4. Do you have solutions for this market?
Tata Elxsi is in the forefront for developing solutions for the car infotainment market. We have been consistently involved in developing futuristic solutions in the area of car connectivity and entertainment. Wearable integration is definitely the future trend and we have developed a concept solution running on a smart watch. This smart watch integrated to the car cluster enables the user to access critical vehicle info like speed status, battery health and fuel efficiency. Our solution works in a way such that if the vehicle speed crosses a threshold value, a visual and vibrating alert is given to the smart watch notifying the driver about over speed condition. Similarly when the fuel level drops to a certain value, the user is again notified about the fuel level and instructing to top up.
Apart from that, Tata Elxsi has also been involved in designing cutting edge wearable products in collaboration with a handful of Indian companies. The design team at Tata Elxsi is working on various smart wearable devices / technology in various areas including health, scrutiny, communication and beauty.
We foresee that wearable integration will outpace the smartphone integration market and most of the future solutions will be in this technology and we are geared to meet the auto world requirements.
