Electronics have become woven into the fabric of the modern
automobile. There are many embedded electronic systems that comprise
your dashboard and the blinking lights that you inform you on the
status of your vehicle. GPS systems, rear-view cameras and hands-free
Bluetooth compatibility are a handful of the technological feats that
comprise the electronic automobile ecosystem. Now, the one device
that has become ingrained into our society will be integrated into
the modern automobile to further develop it: the smartphone.
Yes, the one device that we have been told that it is bad to use
when driving (see: texting, talking, changing music, etc.) is the
same device that Google and Apple want to make a part of the everyday
car. The names of both systems, Android Auto from Google and CarPlay
from Apple, vow to incorporate the smartphone's functionality like
GPS navigation, music playing and voice communication into the
vehicle's main screen. Within the coming weeks and months, car
manufactures will deploy vehicles with one or both of the integration
systems.
Naturally, the concept of utilizing your smartphone on your car's
main screen prompts the question of "is it safe?".
Essentially maneuvering a smartphone while driving is anything but
safe, but what Google's and Apple's aim is to make the system safer
than what most currently do with their smartphones. Google's focus
was on what features to include, how to minimize distractions and
which features to disable during transit. Of the features they
decided to block, streaming video and most social media actions are
included. To minimize taking your eyes off of the road, texts can
only be sent via voice prompts.
I believe there are two major redeeming qualities here for the
"new" modern automobile. One is the move from a closed,
manufacturer-implemented dashboard to a more open approach.
Integration of your smartphone into the car means no additional cost
for the GPS, Bluetooth call feature or voice commands. This is more
money in the user's pockets, as well as a more "one-device-fits-all"
ideal. It means less of a learning cure for user since there is
familiarity with the existing system, improved voice commands with
Siri and Google Now and free GPS map updates.
The other is that it is majorly important to address the values of
society in the development of a new technological system. This
related to our discussion of value-sensitive design (VSD) and the
incorporation of values into the design of a system. According to the
Transportation Department guidelines, the longest time interval to
take your eyes of the road is 2 seconds. Google wants to develop a
system that minimizes the amount of time your eyes are taken off the
road. The reason for doing so is obvious: to minimize accidents
caused by smartphone interactions, either by texting, GPS, voice
calls or other factors. The inclusion of safety has propelled the
design of this system.
I believe the development of a smartphone integration system is
not only a money-saver from an economic perspective, but also a good
implement to minimize distractions while driving from a moral and ethical perspective.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/23/technology/rivals-google-and-apple-fight-for-the-dashboard.html?ref=technology
I also agree with your argument that a smartphone integration system would be beneficial. I for one use my phone in my car for both GPS and music. Since I don't have a monitor on my dashboard, I'm often connecting my phone to the auxiliary or hooking it up to bluetooth. Both do work, but they distract me since I still have to physically look at my phone rather than the road, which can be dangerous. It would be really cool to see how the system would look and function in the car, especially so that it is less distracting to the driver. This would definitely something I would look into in buying another car.
ReplyDeleteCars are definitely having more and more technology integrated within them as the years go on, and complete integration of a smartphone seems like the next natural step from where we are now (I’ve seen quite a few cars with integrated touchscreens, GPS systems, rearview cameras, and Bluetooth functionality as it is). The idea of making streaming video and social media completely blockable for the duration of a car ride, along with making it so that texts can only be composed via voice, is a fantastic idea. It can greatly improve safety on the road by reducing the amount of time people spend being distracted by their smartphones – but, of course, it isn’t foolproof. People need to have the willpower to block the necessary distractions, and people who don’t have the willpower to refrain from texting while driving may not be able to take proper advantage of these safety-minded features. Granted, pressing a “disable” button once or marking off a little checkbox on a list of blocked apps/functions takes much less time than manually dealing with a barrage of texts and phone calls (one at a time) through willpower and common sense alone; hopefully, those people who typically text or keep up with social media while driving will be able to see this. Perhaps all it takes to increase safety, especially among today’s population, is to make being safe and smart more convenient and effortless than it currently is.
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