Speaking of infotainment systems, Poliak points out that Panasonic has been working closely with Google on the development of the dedicated Android Automotive operating system that we saw in Polestar 2 and Volvo XC40 Recharge. “We have helped with the development of Google,” Poliak told Engadget. “In fact, they use us as a reference design for the development of their Android automotive operating system and as a base hardware platform.”
And as the cars of tomorrow become even more intelligent and capable, Poliak expects these infotainment systems to do the same. “You are seeing these IVI (in-vehicle infotainment) systems become the brain of the screen in the cockpit environment of cars,” he continued. “So, absorbing the electronic content that drives your cluster of all-digital instruments, absorbing the brain for the content being rendered on your HUD, adding extra technologies that will be on your IVI – being able to stream Spotify and cache offline content and all kinds of cool things. “
One of those cool things is a concept-proof immersive sound system, born out of a partnership between Panasonic Automotive, Klipsch and Dolby Atmos Music. It is effectively a Dolby Atmos sound system for your car. However, there is no information on when the technology will hit the market.
The other type is Panasonic’s recently announced 4K augmented reality HUD. “Panasonic’s AR HUD solutions cover more of the road, with traditional cluster content like speed and fuel in the near field, as well as 3D overlays in the far field, showing navigation and other critical driver data mapping spatially to the road ahead” , Scott Kirchner, president of Panasonic Automotive and chief executive officer of Panasonic Smart Mobility, said in a press release. “And in a future with more autonomous vehicles, our AR HUD will be able to provide an important additional level of comfort and safety for AV passengers.”
But as we put more and more resources, sensors and capabilities into our cars, balancing on-board computing resources with those of the cloud will be critical, explained Poliak, “a lot of this has to do with latency, and a lot of it has to do with bandwidth. “
For example, with Natural Language Processing, the technology that powers your virtual assistant’s voice command capabilities, the nature of your request will determine whether the command is handled on board or in the cloud. When the Google Assistant built into your car provides a list of locations close to Starbucks and you choose number two – this is a command that would be performed on board. It is simply not efficient to send this request to Google’s servers for processing and then return to the vehicle just to load an address into the navigation system. Now, if you ask your assistant, “Which movies did Gerard Depardieu win an Oscar for”, that kind of question will have to be sent up – and not just because Gerard Depardieu never won an Oscar (Jeremy Irons won it the only time in which was nominated in 1991) – but because there is so much information that you can include in a car’s finite computing resources and, unfortunately, there is not enough space for curiosities about French film actors.
Panasonic / Phair
Surprisingly, we could soon see some AI features being treated as onboard functions as well. Panasonic announced at CES 2021 that it is collaborating with space AI developer Phair “to expand driver safety and navigation support in its automotive solutions,” according to a press release on Monday. Its “deep learning AI technology works in automotive infotainment systems, detects and analyzes the driver’s surroundings in real time and combines with the vehicle’s 3D location to provide enhanced guidance and safety information.”
The company also announced two variants of wireless vehicle charging systems – mobile coil and static coil – at CES 2021 on Monday. The mobile coil style will shift slightly within the load pad to optimize its position in relation to the device’s load coil. What’s more, it can deliver 15 W of power, roughly equivalent to what traditional wired chargers can provide. Both variants use the Qi 1.3 loading standard.
Looking ahead, Poliak argues that the lines between the space in his home and the space in the car will continue to blur. “I think COVID really [instigated] an interesting change in the automotive environment, as it brought home the idea of using your car as your second space, where before it was your job and your home, ”he told Engadget. “Now it’s your home and your car.”
“This has really had an impact on the electronic components that are being updated and what we are looking for for what can be done in a vehicle,” continued Poliak. “And to be honest, autonomy was already starting to shift from turning the vehicle into your living room or office, but it just accelerated dramatically.”