Coming soon to roads near you: cars that are smart enough to detect your mood, take your vital signs, and get ever more intelligent via software updates.
These in-development mobility advancements were on display at global automotive supplier Continental AG’s North American headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan, this week. The manufacturer’s tech showcase aligned with a major theme of CES 2025: software-defined vehicles.
At CES, Continental focused on its “commitment to providing a full stack of integrated solutions that empower automakers to develop and deploy next-generation vehicles,” Aruna Anand, president and CEO of Continental Automotive, North America, said in a statement.
The demonstrations of Continental’s mobility tech came on the heels of the company’s announcement that its partnership with autonomous trucking company Aurora to scale the deployment of driverless trucks was expanding to include Nvidia.
All about the software: Some of the tech Continental showed off included the “electronic backbone for the software-defined vehicle” that it offers to auto companies as a hardware solution; software solutions like cabin sensing and smartphone-based vehicle access; and an “intuitive trunk access” feature that employs radar, light projection, and cameras to sense when a user is approaching to open the trunk.
The manufacturer also demonstrated a “Smart Cockpit High-Performance Computer,” a preconfigured cockpit system that Continental touts as a faster, more cost-effective solution for its customers that’s backed by an AI algorithm that the user can engage to ask questions. And an “intelligent vehicle” demonstrated the ability––using cameras––to analyze what’s happening around the vehicle and respond to the user’s intentions. The feature enables the driver to access the vehicle without a device, simply by approaching the vehicle and having it recognize their face. The system is trained to recognize what the user intends to do next; simply walking around the vehicle without striding toward the door keeps the vehicle locked.
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So sensitive: Other innovations Continental is working on include a feature that uses a small projector to turn the vehicle’s side window into a customized exterior display (one might display a sport team logo, the vehicle’s charging status, or information about a rideshare route, for example) and what it calls its “invisible biometrics sensing display,” which “integrates secure authentication, advanced safety, health and well-being features behind an OLED display,” per a news release.
The biometrics sensing display features “3D distance mapping for airbag deployment and seatbelt monitoring” plus “contactless biometric sensing for heart rate tracking.” Continental employees demonstrated how the system can detect whether the seatbelt is visible in the proper place on the driver, and that it can use a touch-based sensor to measure skin moisture to detect blood-alcohol content.
Meanwhile, another smart feature on display was object detection. Employees used the example of a child getting into a vehicle with a toy lion in hand; the vehicle then provided an immersive experience based on the toy to entertain the child. And an AI-enabled mood detection capability was promoted as a useful way to detect drowsiness or stress on the driver’s part.
The emerging tech, per Continental, aims to create “a safer, more exciting and more connected mobility experience.”