The auto industry is facing a revolution as it enters the era of internet-connected vehicles. This is a blooming market with auto and technology makers set to cash-in big bucks in the next few years. Experts predict that a quarter billion vehicles will be in use by 2020. The market value is set to soar to over $140 billion worldwide in the same year, nearly 6 times the size of market value in 2014. Here are some of the most promising business opportunities that connected cars provide.
Connectivity and integration
Solutions are needed to enable networks and communications devices to efficiently and reliably move data from vehicle to vehicle (V2V), vehicle to home (V2H), and vehicle to infrastructure (V2I). This is especially urgent and important now as departments of transportation in different countries started mandating vehicle to vehicle communication for each new car.
Any company that can develop ideas in to actionable technology will find themselves in a lucrative market. As time goes on, more and more current technologies will be required to be adapted and implemented into the overall system, including traffic lights and first responder departments, and not to mention the necessity for system-wide compatibility.
Infotainment
With increasingly busy and more demanding lifestyles that require more attention and multitasking, it's important to be able to adapt technology to the needs of the user. Take emails and driving for instance, a dangerous thing to check whilst on the road, so a solution should be met. This is where new functions come in, such as specific audio alerts, conversion of text to speech for all document types, voice activation and navigation, as well as synchronization with home and cell phone accounts.
This could also work with current and future social media platforms. Other app needs that could be customized to the user's needs and preferences include; localized weather reports and having specific songs played on voice demand.
Security and safety
Even law enforcement is in the picture for new technologies, allowing them to safely slow a car in order to avoid a high-speed pursuit, for other vehicles to alert them to dangerous levels of excessive speed, and for the user's vehicle to notify the police if the driver or any passengers have outstanding warrants. Some of these ideas are controversial but we can expect in time to see some or all of the ideas implemented.
Other dangers that need solutions come from external sources, such as potential hackers, and in the physical realm, as other vehicles and pedestrians. It's no wonder, then, that this progressive bachelor course in transportation design trains its students to anticipate and cater to the needs of individuals in their interaction with spaces and objects.
Performance-enhancing apps
Being connected means convenience and being in control. You can expect that consumers will want vehicles to be able to interact with their cell phones, wherever the consumer happens to be. Various needs will arise, such as; being able to diagnose vehicle faults, finding out battery and fuel levels, aiding parents in the monitoring of the driving behavior of their children, and the all-important task of helping you remember where you parked your car.
Even pre-emptive social technology can be put to good use, for instance, having your vehicle aware of your initial journey and plans for the day before you even set out on a trip. Apps could even enable vehicles to anticipate freezing or snowy days, allowing the vehicle to heat and prepare itself, thus saving you time not scraping snow off the windshield at 7 am.
Cloud-based services
As the use of autonomous cars gains more acceptance, the need for faster and more reliable car cloud services will increase. Every piece of data emitted from a vehicle, for example: maintenance diagnostics, will require connectivity to a cloud source, whether it's maintenance diagnostics or even the monitoring of child passengers, creating great demand and huge opportunity.
Systems will have formidable requirements, such as high security, the ability to share information quickly between each vehicle on an interconnected network, and reliable performance at all times.
Conclusion
The car industry is transitioning in a major way and many opportunities are becoming available to learn, collaborate, create, and profit. Aside for the advancements in the very vehicle design, additional solutions that further enhance their functionality also offer a huge potential for making serious revenues.
Guest Author
Jennifer Hahn Masterson is a seasoned freelance visual designer and digital nomad, aiming to shape and enhance the user experience through considering the effects of illustrations, typography, photography, space, colours and layouts on the usability of each product and its aesthetic appeal. When she is not busy pondering about the design principles of unity, space, hierarchy, balance, contrast, scale and similarity, she likes to immerse herself in a good book and satisfy her perpetual wanderlust. You can check her out on Twitter and LinkedIn.