I had written a while back about how there seems to be an almost universal circling of the wagons amongst every major automaker to not provide a decent place to put your phone on the dash. This is despite empirical evidence which shows that when you outlaw phone use while driving that the accident rate goes up.
In a nutshell, that’s because when it’s illegal to use your phone, people will still look at their phones, although they change their method. They’ll move their eyes downward away from the road because they’re hiding their phone. Which is worse than the old situation when people would try to hold their phone up so they could still see traffic. Hence, accident rates go up.
I’ve been thinking about this for a while since I published that post and I keep coming back to the same solution to this problem. We need to make important information more accessible to drivers in a safe manner. Simply outlawing phone use in the car isn’t working.
My BMW has a heads-up display which I find absolutely delightful. It’s much more convenient to see vital information floating out there above the road than it is to gaze downward and adjust my focus to the dashboard. This is where the future lies.
I suspect that Apple has already come to that conclusion. AppleInsider reported that they’re rushing headlong into augmented reality(AR) and trying to manage the collision between the real and the virtual world. Already, the iPhone X is leaps and bounds beyond anyone else in the industry. The iPhone X today can seamlessly fit digital creations into your physical surroundings via the phone screen.
Thus far, the tech press has focused on one aspect of where Apple’s AI efforts could go, goggles.
AR goggles seem like they would be the ultimate destination for anyone wanting constant access to information. Or for those who struggle with wanting a bigger phone screen but don’t want to walk around with an iPad in their pocket. Goggles would allow you to go about your day without monopolizing even one of your hands. You’d also have access to a virtually unlimited screen size.
But as tantalizing as a set of AR goggles sound, there is one thing about them that bothers me. They don’t really solve any “pressing” problems. There is no urgent need for them which will help focus a company’s efforts.
Augmented reality built into a vehicle's windshield on the other hand is another story. People are dying every day for lack of important information or trying to access important information. Not knowing what’s in the fog, not seeing what’s around the bend, or looking down at their hidden phone when they should be looking up at the road. You can barely drive more than a few miles before ending up behind someone who doesn’t know the light is green because they’re reading their Facebook feed. This is a pressing need and many communities and law enforcement agencies are clamoring for someone to do something.
Apple Could Do Something
The best solution to this problem is turning our automobile windshields into a big augmented reality display. If I get an important text from my wife, I want to see it whether I’m driving or not. But I also don’t want to endanger anyone else on the road.
We already get bombarded with information while we drive and the risk to safety is acceptably low in the form of physical signs and they’re everywhere. Street signs, restaurant billboards, or furniture 50% liquidation sales. For the most part, they don’t pose a safety risk because our eyes don’t have to refocus on them. They are out there along with the traffic and we take quick glances.
So why don’t we make important info like external physical signs? Today’s HUD displays are dumb. They don’t interact with the environment in any way. But Apple seems to have mastered the illusion of superimposing data over the real world so that it looks natural. They could create the HUD of the future.
I’d like to see information from my iPhone or watch superimposed over the landscape like a billboard in an unobtrusive way. Messages could gradually come into focus like billboards in the distance getting larger and then disappear as we “drive by”. This would solve the issue of getting messages at an inopportune time. Like, if you’re trying to make a left turn in heavy traffic.
The world would be a safer place if digital information was relayed in the same format as physical signs. Externally as part of the landscape.
Google would want in on this too. Could you imagine billboards on the highway that were blank in the physical world but were custom tailored to vehicle occupants? While driving down the highway, you might see an advertisement for the new Chevy Bolt but the guy in the truck behind you might see an advertisement for the new Silverado truck. This would go even beyond what we saw in the movie Back to the Future 2when Marty McFly cowered in fear at the Jaws movie trailer.
But beyond the sheer pressing need for AR in vehicles. It also makes sense from a developmental standpoint. There would be constant access to power and you could hide all the components under the dash. There’s no need to invent miniature electronics and solving for tiny batteries. Vehicle AR would be a great intermediate step towards personal AR goggles.
As I’m oft fond of repeating, moving data is much more consequential than moving people. Let Ford, GM, and Tesla continue with refining glorified horse buggy’s. But companies that can remove bottle necks towards the dissemination of information will own the future.
I’ve been thinking about this for a while since I published that post and I keep coming back to the same solution to this problem. We need to make important information more accessible to drivers in a safe manner. Simply outlawing phone use in the car isn’t working.
My BMW has a heads-up display which I find absolutely delightful. It’s much more convenient to see vital information floating out there above the road than it is to gaze downward and adjust my focus to the dashboard. This is where the future lies.
I suspect that Apple has already come to that conclusion. AppleInsider reported that they’re rushing headlong into augmented reality(AR) and trying to manage the collision between the real and the virtual world. Already, the iPhone X is leaps and bounds beyond anyone else in the industry. The iPhone X today can seamlessly fit digital creations into your physical surroundings via the phone screen.
Thus far, the tech press has focused on one aspect of where Apple’s AI efforts could go, goggles.
AR goggles seem like they would be the ultimate destination for anyone wanting constant access to information. Or for those who struggle with wanting a bigger phone screen but don’t want to walk around with an iPad in their pocket. Goggles would allow you to go about your day without monopolizing even one of your hands. You’d also have access to a virtually unlimited screen size.
But as tantalizing as a set of AR goggles sound, there is one thing about them that bothers me. They don’t really solve any “pressing” problems. There is no urgent need for them which will help focus a company’s efforts.
Augmented reality built into a vehicle's windshield on the other hand is another story. People are dying every day for lack of important information or trying to access important information. Not knowing what’s in the fog, not seeing what’s around the bend, or looking down at their hidden phone when they should be looking up at the road. You can barely drive more than a few miles before ending up behind someone who doesn’t know the light is green because they’re reading their Facebook feed. This is a pressing need and many communities and law enforcement agencies are clamoring for someone to do something.
Apple Could Do Something
The best solution to this problem is turning our automobile windshields into a big augmented reality display. If I get an important text from my wife, I want to see it whether I’m driving or not. But I also don’t want to endanger anyone else on the road.
We already get bombarded with information while we drive and the risk to safety is acceptably low in the form of physical signs and they’re everywhere. Street signs, restaurant billboards, or furniture 50% liquidation sales. For the most part, they don’t pose a safety risk because our eyes don’t have to refocus on them. They are out there along with the traffic and we take quick glances.
So why don’t we make important info like external physical signs? Today’s HUD displays are dumb. They don’t interact with the environment in any way. But Apple seems to have mastered the illusion of superimposing data over the real world so that it looks natural. They could create the HUD of the future.
I’d like to see information from my iPhone or watch superimposed over the landscape like a billboard in an unobtrusive way. Messages could gradually come into focus like billboards in the distance getting larger and then disappear as we “drive by”. This would solve the issue of getting messages at an inopportune time. Like, if you’re trying to make a left turn in heavy traffic.
The world would be a safer place if digital information was relayed in the same format as physical signs. Externally as part of the landscape.
Google would want in on this too. Could you imagine billboards on the highway that were blank in the physical world but were custom tailored to vehicle occupants? While driving down the highway, you might see an advertisement for the new Chevy Bolt but the guy in the truck behind you might see an advertisement for the new Silverado truck. This would go even beyond what we saw in the movie Back to the Future 2when Marty McFly cowered in fear at the Jaws movie trailer.
But beyond the sheer pressing need for AR in vehicles. It also makes sense from a developmental standpoint. There would be constant access to power and you could hide all the components under the dash. There’s no need to invent miniature electronics and solving for tiny batteries. Vehicle AR would be a great intermediate step towards personal AR goggles.
As I’m oft fond of repeating, moving data is much more consequential than moving people. Let Ford, GM, and Tesla continue with refining glorified horse buggy’s. But companies that can remove bottle necks towards the dissemination of information will own the future.
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