MERCEDES-BENZ

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Net-savvy Benz to offer more user-interface tech

words - Mike Bantick
Google Streetview and gesture controls are among the new features Mercedes-Benz will bring to market

Mercedes-Benz has a long history of integrating new innovations into the driver interface of their vehicles.  The company first introduced the Communication and Navigation System (CNS) into the S-Class in 1993 and followed up with a voice control system (known as LINGUATRONIC) in 1996.

Continuing the tradition, the company engineers unveiled a short and long term plan for telematics and infotainment to be offered in upcoming vehicles.

“Our vision can be summed up by the four key concepts of a 'Holistic experience', 'Natural interaction', 'Sensory perfection' and 'User-friendly remote control'", explains Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bharat Balasubramanian, Vice President Product Innovations & Process Technologies in Group Research & Advanced Engineering at Daimler AG.


Before the end of 2011, US and European drivers will be able to enjoy an expanded range of integrated apps for the COMMAND Online multimedia in-car system.  Mercedes-Benz is offering numerous applications for all facets of the digital lifestyle.  New apps for the Facebook online network, for Google Streetview and Google Panoramio will be available from the spring of 2011. Over a dozen additional apps are planned in the medium term.
These are currently under development, in some instances in collaboration with innovative start-ups such as the US talk radio operator Stitcher, the Twitter short message service and the popular music providers Pandora- the music streaming service - in the USA or Aupeo in Germany, for example.

Mercedes-Benz then gets a little metaphysical with us, describing features indicated in the "Concept A-CLASS" study (Shanghai, 2011); the graphic design of screen content will also acquire increasing importance in future. Dynamically growing glass elements form three-dimensionally arranged navigation levels. The user is guided intuitively around the spatial depth of this menu structure by flowing movements and fluidly animated transitions.

In the long term, displays will allow even greater scope for personalisation and apps and control elements will no longer be restricted to specific displays. User-configurable displays are conceivable, for example, allowing drivers to determine for themselves which display elements are to be shown where.

"We are also pursuing research on 3D displays. Three-dimensional on-screen presentations enable information to be absorbed more intuitively," Balasubramanian points out. "This simpler and faster recognition of warnings provides for a further improvement in road traffic safety."


As Microsoft did with the Kinect -The Xbox 360 home gaming console 3D motion and voice detection controller - Mercedes-Benz is looking at new ways to control in-car entertainment and information systems.   Accordingly the company is looking at intuitive control systems with voice control covering most functions, supported by gestures and touch. In the medium term, it will be possible to dictate text messages and e-mails or to call up messages in this way. This will involve speaking a headline or, in the case of so-called "free" voice browsing, a specific question ("What's the weather like in southern Germany?").

"To us as safety pioneers, it is important that the driver is not distracted in any way. On the contrary, the aim is to enhance driver-fitness safety through improved user-friendliness," explains Balasubramanian.

As well as waving your hands about, Benz is also looking at handwriting and gesture recognition (whereby the user traces a finger over the display on the head unit) to switch off and on interior lights for example.

Mercedes-Benz has announced that some of the new applications mentioned above for the COMMAND Online system will be offered in certain models across the range.  As of the northern autumn of 2011 drivers will be able to enjoy apps such as Google Streetview and Panoramio as well as being unable to escape the social clutches of Facebook even while out on the road.

Streetview enables locations all over the world to be seen in 360-degree perspective views and at street level. Panoramio allows access to millions of photographs which have been taken and uploaded by other users at locations all around the globe. Streetview and Panoramio thus provide comprehensive means of studying routes and checking out sights and destinations before embarking on a journey.

The COMAND Online multimedia system, available in the SLK, C-Class, E-Class, CLS and, from the northern autumn, in the new M-Class and the new B-Class, will offer internet access for the first time. Customers can either surf the web as they wish while the car is stationary or call up a Mercedes-Benz app with particularly fast page loading and simple operation to make it suitable for use while driving.

All customers will be able to use the new apps. Additional apps which have already been introduced are Google Local Search and Weather and the facility for downloading a route which has previously been configured on a PC using Google Maps and transmitted to the car. Mercedes-Benz is successively extending the range of apps.

On the audio front Mercedes has increased the memory for compressed audio files (mp3, wma and aac formats) to 10 GB. As an option, COMAND Online is available with a 6-disc DVD changer.  The new audio systems will also feature an upgraded search function enabling drivers and passengers to trawl through the hard disc, SD memory cards, USB sticks, CDs and DVDs simultaneously for their favourite tunes.


Speaking to the local Mercedes-Benz hierarchy about Australian feature availability: “COMAND On-line and most features are currently operational for us.  The only information that we have no specific information about are the new apps for Spring 2011 introduction however given that other features work in our market ,such as Google Maps, Google Local Search and Weather, then we do not foresee any issues accessing them.” said a Mercedes spokesperson.

Unfortunately, the final two new features will not be offered to Australian Mercedes-Benz purchasers, they being the three years of free updates for the satellite navigation data (being rolled out to 39 European countries) and the Speed Limit Assist feature, which receives its information for traffic sign recognition via a camera and navigation database.  This system is also only able to read European road signs.

 Powered By Motoring.com.au Published : Thursday, 25 August 2011
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