At the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, automotive supplier Continental will demonstrate its Dynamic eHorizon technology, which uses live information from HERE to give drivers a glimpse into the future.
With real time information from various sources such as other vehicles’ sensors and traffic data, vehicles using Dynamic eHorizon can learn about conditions out of sight such as a traffic tailback around the next bend, obstructions on the road and even the onset of adverse weather conditions.
An earlier generation of the technology, which we talked about last January, connected vehicles to the HERE location cloud, precisely positioning them on the road ahead.
Now dynamic information allow vehicles to react to more conditions so they can change routes or smoothly adjust their speed to deal with these issues ahead of time, rather than having to slam on the brakes once they’re in sight. It’s the type of technology that’s paving the way for autonomous driving, while delivering benefits such as safety and cost savings today.
Scania trucks are already using this technology and so far they’ve saved fleet operators more than 63 million litres of fuel, worth €86 million since 2012, according to Continental estimates.
Hybrid electric vehicles can also rely on Dynamic eHorizon for smoother, more predictable journeys and to get more mileage from their electric motors rather than relying heavily on their petrol engines, saving money and reducing pollution.
Looking further forward still, highly automated vehicles would be incapable of delivering the kind of smooth journey owners will expect without this foreknowledge of the road ahead. Indeed, HERE believes that creating the trust in automated vehicles required for their success will depend on them being able to ‘second guess’ what drivers would do themselves were they at the wheel with the same information.
HERE will have a lot more to share from CES, taking place on January 6-9, 2015: tune in during the show for more interesting news from us. We’ll also have a stand at the show (LVCC, CES Central Plaza, CP2), so do come along and say hello if you’re in town.
