But phones and computers aren't the only examples of technology in our lives - in fact there are many other devices that we rely on on a day to day basis and that play an important part in our lives. Cars are perhaps at the forefront of this, and there are a lot of exciting ways that these might develop in the future.
Flying cars are pretty much written off at this point, but that doesn't mean we'll never be driving vehicles that look and feel like something straight from the future… Let's use our imaginations and what we know about technology to see what we might be able to expect…
Controls
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When you look at cars today compared to the first Fords, the basics have essentially remained the same. Things like the steering wheel and the windshield are still present and correct and still do pretty much what they always have done.
This is one area that could very genuinely be developed and taken further. Is a steering wheel really the most efficient way to interact? Or could we one day be driving with something more akin to an Xbox controller? It's not something we're seeing signs of yet, but it only takes one person to rethink the way we control our vehicles and it could change them forever - it's bound to happen at some point.
Self-Driving
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Better yet though, our cars may one day not need us to drive them at all. Self-Driving cars have already been invented and have shown just how possible this is, but one day we might not have to have our hands on the wheel at all. And imagine what this could do for energy efficiency? Every car will be 'eco driving' and we'll never be in the wrong gear again…
Connectivity
Then imagine that all these self-driven cars are connected to the web at all times, meaning that they know precisely where every other car is on the road. This would then mean that it would be practically impossible for there to be an accident, and also that traffic jams could be essentially eliminated.
You could get precise estimates for the amount of fuel you would use and for the time it would take… there'd never be a good excuse for being late to a meeting… Something else potentially amazing that could happen in the future of the automobile could be remote controlled driving. Why would this ever be useful?
There are plenty of reasons: say for instance you have a child who can't drive - why not put them in the car and drive them to school from home using your PC? Of course this would be open to abuse which is something worth considering, and it would only be useful if it came before fully self-driving cars. Because then we won't need driving licenses anyway…
Augmented Reality
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With Google Glass now available for developers and early adopters, the era of augmented reality is very almost upon us. This has a lot of potential benefits for cars, and particularly when it comes to HUDs (heads-up-displays) that could show information on the screen of the car.
It's surprising this hasn't been done already, which leads one to believe there might be challenges with regards to lighting and durability. Still though, it's only a matter of time before this is cracked (no pun intended) meaning that we should be seeing the car windshield as monitor sometime soon.
And that will then mean we can forget maps and instead have arrows that actually point to the turnings you need to take. We could have warnings showing us where the hazards are (after extensive testing to ensure that this isn't distracting) and we could have a fuel gauge and rev counter rendering the conventional dashboard obsolete and bringing around design changes to car interiors as well.
And then the self-driving cars will make it all obsolete.
Oh and also: energy efficiency…
Dave JohnsonAbout the Author:
Dave Johnson writes for Parts Engine, a team of experienced professionals providing extensive installation services of SUV accessories in Canada. For more information on his work, log on to partsengine.ca.