SmartSettings

Cindy Chang, Matthew MauLao Thao & Roxana Gharegozlou

COMM169 Winter 2013

Meet JohnJohn is a shared vehicle user who frequently travels for business purposes, but often also for recreation. He makes use of vehicle sharing services such as Zipcar and Enterprise for trips away from and close to home.

Because of this, he is regularly forced to adjust to a new environment and drive a different vehicle. Driving different vehicles also adds the burden of adjusting the vehicle settings such as the mirrors and seats every time John picks up a new vehicle because these settings have been modified by previous drivers . The overhead of these adjustment processes takes time, which is inconvenient for John since he rents vehicles on a timed basis and also has pressing business meetings to reach.

Technology of AutomobileIntelligent and Context Aware: SmartSettings personalizes the physical feel, entertainment, and navigation system of whatever car John is driving, wherever he is. Customizations can include:

Physical: seat height, steering wheel angle, power, and grip, rear view and side mirrors' angle and position, gas pedal sensitivity and angle, color of car interior, climate control

Entertainment: music preferences, volume

Navigation: voice and gender of system, level of coaching depending on familiarity of the driver with the location

Smartphone enabled: No fancy setup: John just downloads the SmartSettings application on his smartphone. For his first ride, John manually adjust the car's settings to his liking and saves his "car profile" on his phone. John's smartphone communicates with the car via Bluetooth, and starts adjusting the settings of the car according to John's car profile. His smartphone is also able to detect John's current emotion when the phone is in his hand by sensing heat and assessing the white and red blood cell count in his hand.

Car Phone Integration: By leveraging the GPS in John's phone, SmartSettings knows when John is coming and automatically configures John's car to his liking before and as he unlocks the door via extra servos and digital technologies. The interior of the car is equipped with technology that allows it to change color, and the parts of the car that can be personalized are all equipped with technology that allows them to move automatically. The entertainment and navigation system is controlled by a central computer and the car's climate control system can be adjusted by the car without the user needing to turn on the car. The car has a biometric scanner by the driver's door .

Our big ideaImagine if every car you drove felt like your own. SmartSettings automatically customizes the physical conditions, entertainment, and navigation system of your next shared or rented car to your preferences, without the need to push a button, turn a dial, or utter a command. Using the unique profile data on your smartphone, SmartSettings communicates with your new car and adjusts its settings to make your in-car environment a more intuitive and personal one.

Whether it's automatically playing your favorite radio channel, or offering more navigation assistance to elderly drivers, SmartSettings' intelligent and context-aware technology makes it all about you.

Setting up:

John adjusts the rear view mirror, side mirrors, and driver's seat to his liking.

He then does a test drive for 5 minutes so that SmartSettings can learn how he uses the steering wheel and gas pedals so it can personalize the sensitivity and angle of the gas pedals, as well as the angle, power, and grip of the steering wheel, to match John's liking.

John then simply uses his phone to save these settings.

Walking to the car:

It's a cool autumn day and John is feeling pretty calm and content after finishing a job interview in the city. As he walks toward his car in the parking lot, he takes out his phone to check his messages.

Meanwhile, SmartSettings tells John's car that he will be there in just a few minutes so it can start preparing the temperature of the car to match John's liking and also based on the current temperature outside. SmartSettings also is detecting John's current emotion using biological sensors in the phone in his hand.

Smart unlocking of the car:

When John reaches his car in the parking lot, his car unlocks automatically based on location sensing and its knowledge of the time of John's commute to the parking lot.

For added security, John puts his phone to the car to verify his identity.

Adjusting to John's specifications:As John opens the car door, in less than 2 seconds, the driver's seat moves down and back to match his specifications, while the gas pedals adjusts their angle and sensitivity and steering wheel changes its power, grip, and angle too. While the car scans John's biometrics to check that its adjustments are properly calibrated, the side mirrors and the rear view mirror also move to the position John sees best. The interior of the car also changes color to match John's happy mood; today, it's a sunny yellow. John notices the car is slightly heated too - perfect for this cool autumn day.

Steering wheel and gas pedal adjustments:

Before John starts walking to the car, the steering wheel and gas pedals are in their regular setting, but when John arrives at the car and opens the door, their movement to their specified position lets John know that SmartSettings is working.

Getting into the car:

The car notifies John that it has finished adjusting to his settings by welcoming him inside with a message. John then turns on the car keylessly and then based on John's mood as detected through the phone earlier, music suited to his mood starts playing automatically at a volume suitable for his mood. Today, the car starts to play a quirky and upbeat song at a soft, comfortable volume to match John's current emotion.

Navigation:

John's car is able to sense when John is driving in a new place based on his location. The car's built-in GPS then offers John personalized driving directions based on the level of familiarity he has with his surroundings. John is also able to customize the type of voice to dictate these instructions based on his liking.