The human-machine interface in any device is the hardest part. With safety on the line, carmakers must get the interface right to communicate vehicle automated features to occupants.
BMW Concept Car Dee's Head-Up Display (Image: BMW)
What’s at stake:
Carmakers are pitching more automated features consumers as “driver assist.” With many active safety functions, cars aren’t actaully assisting drivers. Rather, they are making decisions and acting autonomously. How, then, can humans read a vehicle’s intentions? Are head-up displays the best human-machine interface?
The BMW Group’s keynote during last week’s CES 2023 included a talking car used to demonstrate how the vehicle can change its paint job—coated with E Ink—with up to 32 different colors matching a driver’s emotional state.