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It seems as if a day doesn’t go by when some new technology or other is announced to the world, especially when it is based on digital. ‘Smart this’, ‘smart that’ – the latest tech breakthroughs seem unending! While a lot of this change is occuring in the fields of medicine, biology, computing and manufacturing, it’s also the case in automotive, and the future technology of the vehicles we drive.

But what exactly is going on? Ask a typical motorist in the developed world what the most significant change is in the automotive industry, and most will talk about hybrid cars, or the gradual switch towards fully electric vehicles. While there’s no doubt that these topics certainly dominate mainstream motoring news, this belief barely scratches the surface of automotive technology development.

In an era of unprecedented dependency on electronic gadgetry and technology, the digital age is significantly driving the direction of motoring – and possibly the way we live our lives, too. Although we’re now accustomed to digitalisation in our lives, few people truly understand what this could really mean for UK drivers, if ideas jump from fantasy to reality. Some technologies in developement will have a significant affect on all of our experiences on the road, including many innovations pioneered by Continental.

Looking for a car? Look no further than online

Before we look at some of the digital automotive technologies in today’s – and potentially tomorrow’s – vehicles, consider how we now buy vehicles. Gone are the days of simply looking in the local newspaper, or dedicated car magazine, and basing your purchasing choice on the limited description, and eventaul vehicle inspection. Shopping for cars has dramatically changed because of the digital revolution. Today, with a mountain of data, statistics and reviews available online for every single vehicle on the market, consumers are much better informed. As a result, it’s estimated that up to two-thirds of us are anticipated to make decisions on car buying as a result of online research, by 2020.

And it doesn’t stop there. Some car makers are launching virtual showrooms, enabling customers to use Augmented Reality (AR) to look around cars online, but as if they were standing next to them, providing them with a near real-world experience – from the comfort of their own home. Will this spell the end of the real world car showroom as we know it? Quite possibly.

Smarter tyres keep you safer, as well as save you money

On the road, digital innovation in tyres aims to improve performance, and make the driver experience ever safer. Continental has already developed its own well established Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) which can be found in many of today’s vehicles.

They’ve also developed eTIS – a electronic-Tyre Information System that keeps an eye on your tyres, and alerts the driver of any (potentially dangerous) temperature changes, or pressure loss. The eTIS technology also helps improve driver comfort, as well as safety, as well as reduce CO2 emissions and fuel consumption. This innovation comes hot on the heals of Continental’s other digital tyre tech, ContiSense and ContiAdapt.
While not on the market just yet, these revolutionary vehicle aids are based on electrically conductive rubber compounds that enable electrical signals to be sent from a sensor in the tyre to a receiver in the car – the upshot of which is that your tyres will be able to continually communicate with your car, and notify you of any issues relating to tread depth, temperature, and pressures. But how will you receive and digest this digital data?

Continental’s digital technology is about more than simply tyres

Although Continental has built an unrivalled global reputation on it’s award winning premium tyres, its expertise in other automotive fields is wide-ranging – if less well known. Much of the company’s investment to date has been on developing digital technologies, including HUD – Heads-Up Displays.

Last year, it increased its stake in DigiLens, a leader in holographic waveguide technology. DigiLens provides a ‘smart head-up display’ for your car that increases the visible HUD size. In the not so distant future, heads-up display technology – previously seen only in airplane cockpits, or the futuristic Hollywood movies – will become the norm, doing away with the traditional vehicle dashboard as we know it today.

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Smart sensors in the digital age

In the near future, Continental will provide the global automotive industry with an array of digital performance and safety technologies. But even today, many of their groundbreaking digital technologies are already integrated into many of the cars we all drive. One such technology of the digital age is ADAS – Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. These intelligent electronics – pioneered and developed by Continental over many years – are now commonplace in today’s automobiles, and provide a wide range of benefits to drivers. These include Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), which monitors road conditions and helps to prevent collisions, thanks to its state-of-art LIDAR technology, and Electronic Stability Control (ESC), which can assist with steering – in the event your vehicle senses that you need to immediately take avoiding action.

And then there’s autonomous self-parking technology – the digital driving technology that garners ‘wows’ and gasps whenever seen. Continental are a major provider of this technology to the global automotive sector, and if you drive a Mercedes-Benz already you’ll be familiar with this clever, futuristic autonomous technology. As the name suggests, autonomous self-parking means you never need park the car yourself again. It’s not just the kids that think it’s cool.

As digital self-parking technology becomes more and more commonplace – just as AEB and ESC have – autonomous driver assistance will become the norm, to the point where drivers will question its omission if a vehicle does not have it. Make no mistake, the autonomous vehicle revolution is well and truly underway, and while it may not fully arrive for a few years yet, Continental are well placed to help shape and steer the direction of this digital technology.

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