BRIEF: The State of the Art in Smart Car Tech

It’s been a long on-ramp for the smart car concept, but things seemed to kick into a higher gear over the past year as major IT and tech companies poured resources into automotive efforts, and big brands in the car sector welcomed new collaborations. This week, a lot of that behind-the-scenes activity produced results in the form of exciting prototypes – some even drivable – at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. The event’s dedicated smart car programming helped to rev up further excitement over where this technology is headed, so it’s worth taking a moment to consider the state of the art now.

Here’s where things stand:

Innovative software is already starting to introduce smart car technology to the mass market:

Android Auto Waze Integration Brings Crowdsourced Traffic Data to Connected Cars

As for more advanced tech, the market for smart car sensors is expected to grow considerably over the coming years:

Automotive Biometrics Market to Reach Nearly $1B by 2023: Goode

Autonomous Vehicles Spur Automotive Sensor Market: TechVision

And biometrics specialists are involving themselves in the action in a big way:

IAV Picks FaceTec For Connected Car Biometric Access, To Demonstrate at CES

NEC-DENSO Joint Venture to Explore Connected Car Tech

Meanwhile, Car makers themselves, as well as automotive components suppliers, are starting to put a heavy emphasis on biometrics and other sophisticated smart car technologies:

Mitsubishi Electric Showcases Technology at CES 2018 For Newer, Smarter, Cars That Know You Better

Pop-Up Steering Wheel, Holograms, and Biometrics Among Cutting-Edge Hyundai Mobis Car Tech Planned for CES 2018

Hyundai Announces AI Assistant for Cars, Based On SoundHound Tech

Gentex to Showcase Iris-Based Driver Recognition, In-Car Payments at CES 2018

… And it’s a smooth road ahead with 5G and IoT infrastructure is evolving to accommodate smart car technologies:

Toyota Car Sets Speed Record for Downloads in Automotive 5G Trial