Driver Assistance

Many of today's higher-end cars come with systems that alert the driver if they're engaging in unsafe driving practises. However, what about the rest of us? Well, the University of Alcalá has developed a smartphone app that reportedly serves much the same purpose.

​It was just this year that we first laid eyes on the Acura Precision Concept car. Based on the exterior design of that vehicle, the automaker has now revealed a stand-alone cockpit concept … appropriately known as the Acura Precision Cockpit.

​It may not happen often, but it's tragic when it does – parents forget that their baby is in their car, so they leave them in there when they park, and the infant subsequently succumbs to heat stroke. To help minimize the chances of this happening, GM is introducing its Rear Seat Reminder.

Bosch has developed a collision-detection system that not only warns a driver of an impending crash, but that applies the brakes and disengages the throttle to avoid the collision. What’s new about this system is that it’s made for light rail and will be tested on trams in Germany.

A new Indiegogo project wants to bring a tech-enabled, touch-controlled steering wheel to a car near you. The Radiomize steering wheel cover converts a standard steering wheel into a touchpad controller for a paired smartphone, safely adding connected car options to any vehicle.

BMW Labs has opened its public portal allowing ConnectedDrive services to connect IFTTT (IF This Then That​) to BMW drivers and their smartphones. The service both adds functionality and allows BMW Labs to advance new services still being developed, connecting apps together while on the go.

Last year, Delphi used its own technologies to "drive" a car autonomously from San Francisco to New York. The next stage of that tech is what the company calls "vehicle-to-everything" (V2E). It allows vehicles to "communicate" with streets, signs, traffic lights, other cars and even pedestrians.​

Quanergy Systems is set to introduce its first solid-state light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor for advanced driver assistance systems and self-driving cars. The system will cost less than US$1,000 per car and was previewed at the Los Angeles Auto Show's Connected Car Expo.

Tired of trying to remember what knobs move your car seat in which direction? Well, in the not-too-distant future, you may not have to. That's because scientists have developed a seat that's moved using simple intuitive gestures.

As of this week, drivers of BMWs can find out how long it'll be before traffic lights change color. This feature comes courtesy of a partnership with Orgeon-based startup Connected Signals, which makes an existing app known as EnLighten.

We've already seen systems that detect driver fatigue via steering wheel movements, but engineering firm Hoffman and Krippner has developed what its designers believe is a better alternative – a fatigue-sensing steering wheel add-on that tracks the driver's grip.

Ford is debuting a new split-view camera mounted on the front and rear bumpers that gives drivers a 180-degree view from the bits of the car that poke into traffic first, effectively giving you the ability to see around corners.