The internet of things has been connecting the devices in our homes and workplaces for a few years now but how can we utilize this technology to connect our cars?
As we move toward a fully connected future, not only are our home and workplace devices becoming connected to each other, but our cars are beginning to join this connectivity revolution as well. Many people are opposed to the internet of things, though, because of security and privacy concerns. The nature of the internet of things is an increase in connected devices, which automatically increases the number of entry points and opportunities for criminals to achieve their malicious activities.
Although there are legitimate concerns regarding the internet of things, having this huge amount of data available to sectors like education and healthcare benefits and enhances lives, and on a personal level, our everyday interactions are much more seamless and easy thanks to connected devices. The internet of things is not only improving lives through everyday connected devices like computers, voice assistants, and mobile devices, but cars are also joining the connectivity revolution to help make our everyday lives safer.
So, what exactly is a connected car? Well, when a car is equipped with Internet access, usually through a wireless local area network, this allows the car to share internet access with other devices both inside and outside the vehicle. This type of car is called a connected car. This technology is evolving rapidly, and, to the surprise of many people, we are very close to IoT cars.
Connected or internet of things cars can offer many benefits like personalized driver and passenger experiences, driverless cars, tons of new data, and an increased acceptance of electric cars. Every driver and passenger prefer different accommodations while driving and with IoT vehicles, that preference will be activated the second you sit in an IoT car. Also, as connected cars become more and more popular, electric cars will be excepted by more people, making driverless cars more excepted as well.
One of the biggest benefits connected cars will bring is the amount of data they will provide to both drivers and manufacturers. With all this new data, drivers and manufacturers will be able to learn many things like user behavior and preferences so manufacturers can improve driver experiences, and drivers can learn more about their own driving habits and how to optimize the use of their vehicle. With the wealth of knowledge this new data will bring, manufacturers and drivers alike will be empowered to make smarter decisions when it comes to driving and, especially, be much safer on the road.
With more than 1.3 million people around the world dying in road crashes each year, an average of over 3,000 deaths per day, and an additional 20-50 million people being injured or disabled in car wrecks each year, the main advantage of connected cars will be to make driving safer. As driving is a necessity in many parts of the world, IoT vehicles look to make this daily practice safer and to prevent the millions of deaths it causes each year.
In order to make IoT cars a reality, the software inside the car and the hardware development of the car must be decoupled from the services that the car offers. For this to be possible, car manufacturers must decide early on in the car’s development which services will be enabled. The development of cars
typically takes five to seven years and as the internet of things is fairly new, car manufacturers are still developing this technology in cars that will not be released for a few more years. As the internet of things is understood by more and more people and utilized in everyday devices like cars, we will all soon be driving connected cars and driving will become a much safer practice in our daily lives.
