Volvo partners with Ericsson to develop intelligent entertainment system for autonomous cars

[Shawn Knight]

Fully autonomous vehicles are going to impact multiple aspects of our daily lives, some more profound than others. Volvo is working to tackle one of the more lighthearted, trivial situations that our future holds - staying entertained during commutes.

With all the free time that self-driving cars will afford, the Swedish automaker assumes you'll likely want to catch up on your favorite show or take in a movie. While some of today's vehicles do offer in-car Wi-Fi that makes streaming media possible, you're bound to hit some areas with spotty cellular reception, especially on long road trips or in rural areas. Then there's the issue of what to watch (first world problems, I know).

To tackle these concerns, Volvo is partnering with Ericsson to develop an autonomous vehicle entertainment experience. The system will recommend episodes of TV shows or movies that you'll be able to watch in their entirety based on the length of your commute.

It'll also take the route into consideration as it relates to network coverage. For example, if the system anticipates you'll be traveling through a cellular dead zone half way into your commute, it'll buffer your programming to ensure an interruption-free experience while you are without reception.

Volvo said its research shows that video will account for nearly 70 percent of all mobile data traffic in the coming years, hence why it's developing such a system ahead of time.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/63347-volvo-partners-ericsson-intelligent-entertainment-system.html

 

[VitalyT]

Yeah, 'cos most people have only junk in their glove boxes anyway.

They should have left just enough space for a silenced gun, or else it won't sell in many countries.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

I'd much rather read a book (e-book, whatever) or watch live sport than watch movies. Maybe Ericssons and Volvo has those bases covered as well because when autonomous motoring becomes 'the thing' I'm chucking away my drivers licence, buying an autonomous driving Volvo (I like Volvo's, I've had a few). I can easily do without driving, and to think at one time I used to love it.

 

[yRaz]

That last thing people need is to be entertained while driving. People have a hard enough time driving without any distractions, this is just plan dangerous. Yes, this is for "autonomous" vehicles but how many of those are going to be on the road in the next few years?

 

[Kibaruk]

I'd much rather read a book (e-book, whatever) or watch live sport than watch movies. Maybe Ericssons and Volvo has those bases covered as well because when autonomous motoring becomes 'the thing' I'm chucking away my drivers licence, buying an autonomous driving Volvo (I like Volvo's, I've had a few). I can easily do without driving, and to think at one time I used to love it.

Yeah, you love it like... after getting your drivers license and before a couple months of traffic jams.

 

[VitalyT]

That last thing people need is to be entertained while driving.

Reminds me of a phrase from movie Armageddon:

Just trying have some fun before I die!

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Yeah, you love it like... after getting your drivers license and before a couple months of traffic jams.

Selfishness, bad driving, bad manners and traffic jams are more than enough to ruin any motorists fun. The tip of my middle finger gets sunburned these days while driving.

 

[Uncle Al]

We had a girl put her car (and her) in a local lake because she was trying to do "face time" on her I-pad while she was driving (thankfully she survived, but her lipstick was a wreck). I can only imagine how some little genius will re-wire this system for similar things. I still like the old Avis commercials where the cars were riding on a car carrier .... yeah, that's the ticket!

 

[Capaill]

If it's for a driver's entertainment in a self-driving car, why is it on the passenger's side?
Wake me up when they can project the display onto the windscreen.