Instead of getting involved with the autonomous auto movement, Harman is making bets on connected vehicle features – either a bridge technology or the future, depending on who you ask.
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“With access to relevant Office 365 services through intelligent personal assistant software, drivers can complete tasks without compromising safety, including scheduling meetings, hearing and responding to emails, automatically joining conference calls without having to manually input the phone number and passcode, and seamlessly managing events and tasks throughout the day”, Harman said in a statement at CES 2016.
Neither Harman nor Microsoft has explained how the Office 365 plans for automobiles will work, whether it will be part of existing enterprise plans, whether it will come with new cars or whether it will require a new subscription.
Additionally, HAR unveiled a new navigation solution that “combines connected navigation and sensor fusion in a single computer platform to enable vehicle and driver to see the road ahead”.
The goal, according to Harman, is to make the driver more productive.
Drivers will also be able to hold Skype calls when the vehicle is in park, or whilst it is in autonomous driving state – this will of course depend on your vehicle’s ability to drive autonomously.
Harman does promise that their infotainment systems will take advantage of over-the-air software updates to keep Microsoft Office on its latest versions. Increasingly, that includes strong demands for richer productivity.
Phil Eyler, president of Harman Connected Car believes that, “drivers want an immersive, and personalised experience in the car”.
Intelligent learning navigation and high-resolution 3D maps for high-precision positioning systems including micro-city and micro-parking models; ADASIS e-Horizon to extend drivers range of perception beyond their range of vision using V2X technology.
But – and it’s a big but – are drivers really going to use it?
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The calculated outputs are used to intuitively adjust user interfaces, like placing mobile devices in do-not-disturb mode or adjusting system intervention thresholds to minimise physical and mental distraction to the driver.
