New Auto Technology Trends

Las Vegas inspires a weird kind of awe. Ogle at spectacles like the mega-story Coke bottle, the Luxor's pyramid or the Treasure Island pirate ship, and you don't know whether to laugh or cry. Are we a brilliantly playful civilization or is Armageddon nigh?

Intuitive Connectivity
The same might be said of the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held at Vegas' Convention Center the first week in January. Let's focus on just the laughing and the brilliantly playful aspects of those gadgets and systems that "enhance our driving experience" (to steal a well-used phrase from the 230 auto-related exhibitors packed into 200,000 sq. ft. of convention space). On the other hand, according to the show host Consumer Electronics Association, in-vehicle technology is expected to generate $10 billion—hardly a laughing matter.


Coverage of the auto segment of the show reveals some clear gadget trends—intuitive and connectivity are two of the more prominent buzzwords. In a nutshell, the technology allows us to do more activities in our vehicles and—to balance out that trend—the vehicles of the future will be able to drive themselves. Now we can start crying.

Automatic Matters
We'll start with the offerings that, literally, drive themselves. Continental's ContiGuard, a vehicle safety system, basically provides electronic reflexes to avoid an accident about to happen. The core of the system is a risk calculator that absorbs the given traffic situation, determines the probability of a mishap and then arms the vehicle's systems to avoid, or minimize the effects of, the crash.


That means the brakes are pre-filled and the assist prepped, seatbelt tension is increased, windows and sunroof closed and the airbags pre-warned. All the driver has to do is hit the brakes. With ContiGuard tied into the suspension's electronic stability control (ESC) and other chassis components, it makes adjustments with a precision that no driver, short of Jeff Gordon, could possibly achieve.