Five Car Technologies From The Not-So-Distant Future

Earlier this week, the US-based car firm Faraday Future, who are aiming to “fully disrupt the auto industry status quo” revealed their first concept car.

The firm revealed their FFZero1 at the CES tech show in Las Vegas, and while it is just a concept at the moment, it has a couple of cool tricks up its sleeve.

A steering wheel smartphone mount and oxygen and water supplying helmet are among the features included in this car of the future, which has already been dubbed the Batmobile by some.

The idea got us thinking about some other futuristic ideas that are already creeping into the world of cars

Self-driving cars.

Google are leading the way in this field, with plans to make driverless cars available to the public as early as 2020.

The cars are fitted with a range of sensors, cameras and radar which all work together with a sophisticated artificial intelligence to detect obstacles and other vehicles to safely navigate the streets.

We’re already seeing this kind of stuff being used in certain cars which are utilising “self-parking” features.

Augmented reality heads-up displays

Heads-up displays in cars were experimented with back in the 1980’s, but the results were fairly underwhelming (see this video for proof!).

Nowadays HUD displays have come a long way, and you can actually download apps for your smartphone which can sit on your dashboard and reflect a speed and navigation details onto your windscreen.

This is still fairly basic, however, but hopefully, soon we’ll be seeing windscreens that double as actual screens.

Not only will this make us feel like we’re David Hasselhoff in Knight Rider, but it’ll also help us keep our eyes on the road, saving us from constantly looking down at a Sat Nav or worse, our mobiles.

Car to car communication

No, this doesn’t mean that your car will be able to scream road rage at other passing cars.

Basically, this technology means that vehicles will be able to send out important data about their status and journey, allowing other cars to best avoid traffic congestion, plan route and avoid accidents.

For instance, your car would be able to alert you if someone is approaching from your blind spot or about to veer into your lane.

Mercedes is already testing this technology in Germany and the US, and with driverless car technology on the rise we should be seeing more of this in the future!

Preference learning software

We’re already seeing this sort of tech on our laptops, tablets and smartphones, with our internet browsers and social media sites tailoring the adverts we see based on our browsing history and interests.

It is likely that soon our cars will also be fully connected to the internet, which could mean we’ll be seeing those annoying pop-up ads even while we’re on the road!

Hopefully, we’ll see this kind of technology being used for slightly more useful functions as well, with traffic updates on the routes you frequently drive and fuel usage optimised to your driving style all possibilities!

Health monitoring

Ford have already begun testing on sensors inside seatbelts and steering wheels which will be able to actively monitor vital statistics such as temperature, with the ability to actually pull over if you happen to have a heart attack or seizure at the wheel.

This tech has already been tested in India, where it has been described as a “mobile ambulance on wheels”.

When you consider how many road accidents are caused by people falling ill (or asleep) at the wheel, this is actually a really exciting field and could end up saving a lot of lives.

Here at Cox Motor Parts, one of the UK’s Honda parts dealers, we’ve got our fingers crossed that some of these futuristic ideas may be coming to fruition sooner than you may have thought, and we’ll be sure to keep abreast of any developments so that we can continue to provide you with the best expert guidance.