BMW to offer wireless Android Auto integration from mid-2020

from the press release (my comment in brackets):

- Android Auto is a simpler, safer way to use the smartphone in BMW vehicles, making it easy to access music, media and messaging apps. (simpler and safer than?)

- “Many of our customers have pointed out the importance to them of having Android Auto inside a BMW for using a number of familiar Android smartphone features safely without being distracted from the road, in addition to BMW’s own functions and services,” says Peter Henrich. (great news for the customers, BMW should had done that earlier)

-Android Auto in a BMW will be demonstrated live for the first time at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2020 and will be available from July 2020 for all vehicles with BMW Operating System 7.0. (I 'll miss CES this year)

my comments:

-curious to see what will happen to BMW OS. Today, it is the most sophisticated OS, will BMW scale it down?

-I am confident that BMW will change the central information displays. Most of the competitors are moving to portrait or 16:10/16:9 aspect ratio. There is a reason for it.

-If you can't beat them, ...

#automotive #software #infotainment

VW Group CAR.SOFTWARE Organization

From the press release:

-The Car.Software organization will operate as an independent business unit from January 1, 2020

-Initially, around 3,000 digital experts from the software-related associates and subsidiaries will be grouped together in this unit.

-By 2025, more than 10,000 digital experts in the Car.Software organization will develop the software for the vehicle and the digital ecosystems as well as customer-centric functions at dealers

-Volkswagen aims to boost the in-house share of car software development from the current figure of less than 10 percent to at least 60 percent by 2025.

-…one standard vehicle operating system “vw.os” for all Group vehicles and their connection to the Volkswagen Automotive Cloud

-The Car.Software organization intends to invest over EUR 7

My comment:

How can we compete? Should we all go home now and just buy from VW group?

If we want to add value to our customers in a sustainable way, then this is not the time to add more features, functions, variants. It is time to remove and carefully curate the experiences we deliver to our customers. Number of features should not be a metric of success, but of failure.

“It takes a genius to make it simple.” Woody Guthrie

#automotive #software #curator

VW ID. SPACE VIZZION Interior

While the Tesla Cybertruck was capturing all of our attention, VW presented the ID. SPACE VIZZION at LA show. Perhaps VW needs to work on the marking approach, but ID. SPACE VIZZION includes several Human-Machine-Interface (HMI) innovations.

- An augmented reality head-up display (AR HUD) will replace the traditional instrument cluster and it will be the primary information display. The cluster will become a secondary mini display showing only basic information. Of course, the AR HUD needs to be seen, but VW’s approach is the future on interior cockpit design with clusters getting smaller to display only basic information.

-A 15.6” touchscreen display for information and entertainment features. I don’t know the exact dimensions, but I assume the aspect ratio is 16:10 (same as Tesla 3). In any case, this is the right approach to enhance driver and passenger UX.

-Climate control. There is a touch slider at the bottom of the screen to change temperature. I am little bit skeptical on this, primarily because of the location. The free-floating effect looks great, but I would prefer a surface (lip) to act as a palm rest.

-I will post separately on Steering wheel ID. Light (the interior light is probably one of the greatest innovations)

#interior #hmi

Mercedes-Maybach GLS - Rear Seat Entertainment (RSE)

Mercedes-Maybach GLS - Rear Seat Entertainment (RSE)

One of the rare cases that the actual product is better than the vision / concept.

RSE in GLS is probably the best on the market today.

Leadership entertainment and productivity with:

-2 x 11.6" (16:9) touchscreens with MBUX

-Tablet for remote control of the system

-Optional Bluetooth headphones

-Connectivity to allow passengers to connect their digital environments

-System that can manage up to 8 different profiles

At the premium market the RSE is a must have feature. OEMs should invest into passenger experience for brand differentiation and to establish the new form of luxury.

If you expect your customers to bring their own devices then what differentiates you? How do you enhance the UX and communicate your brand DNA?

A potential opportunity for future improvement might be to replace the front 12.3" (8:3) central information display with a panel similar to the ones at the rear.

#rse #maybach #passengerexperience

Ferrari Roma dual cockpit - Ferrari's new interior design approach

The new Ferrari Roma demonstrates Ferrari's new interior design approach with the “dual cockpit” concept.

The Ferrari Styling Centre designers created an interior with two separate cells, one for the driver and one for passenger, that utilises the entire cockpit.

The steering wheel, the 16” curved instrument cluster display and the gear selector are carry over parts from the SF90 Stradale (my post on SF90 Stradale HERE).

The 8.4” central information portrait display is a new interface, and it seems like a great addition in relation to the previous central console interface (SF90). The 8.4” display offers great opportunities to improve interactions on features like climate control, navigation and integration with customers’ mobiles (e.g. CarPlay).

The passenger display, in combination with the new “cell” design, provides an immersive passenger experience. This is a great innovation from Ferrari, taking into account the passenger experience since the GTC4Lusso. The Roma is an excellent example of how Design and Human Factors / HMI can work together to innovate.

If a brand like Ferrari, with such heritage and brand DNA, can celebrate design innovation then there is no excuse for the rest of us.

Some opportunities for further innovation:

---driver thermal comfort, not sure if the new air vent design will be effective

—-central display visibility and reachability, potential obscuration from the cell design.

---central speaker performance, uncertain how the proximity to central display will affect audio performance.

#ferrari #design #interior #innovation #passenger