The Very Near Future of Smart(er) Cars
In the August of 1959, a Volvo engineer by the name of Nils Bohlin invented the three-point seat-belt for cars, a feat since described as one of the most significant inventions of the 20th century, credited with saving more than a million lives.
Bohlin’s seat-belt started saving the lives of Volvo drivers and passengers almost immediately. In recognition of its significant life-saving potential, Volvo made the seat-belt design freely available to other car manufacturers under an ‘open patent’. It also sent Bohlin abroad to promote seat-belt adoption and legislation.
A great case study of corporate social responsibility at its finest (remember, this was 1959!).
Today, Volvo continues to focus on improving car safety features, recently announcing a series of initiatives designed to help it achieve its Vision 2020 goal “…that by 2020 no one should be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo car.”
The new initiatives include:
- Inward-facing video cameras in all new Volvo cars pointed at the driver: footage from the cameras will be processed in real time through algorithms designed to detect distracted or impaired drivers. The ‘car’ will first warn drivers if it detects signs of distraction or impairment, and forcibly correct their actions if they remain unresponsive. For example, the car might start by initiating a ‘friendly call’ from Volvo’s call center, and escalate to autonomously slowing down the car or stopping it completely in certain cases.
- A programmable ‘Care Key’ smart fob: this would allow a Volvo’s main owner to set speed and other limitations (such as acceleration and range, maybe even music choice?) based on who’s borrowing their car.
- A digital library of safety data: in the spirit of its seat-belt example, Volvo’s developing a new digital library to openly share its safety data and studies (collated since 1970) with other car manufacturers and researchers. Another socially-responsible ‘ecosystem’ strategy recognizing that enabling generally safer cars on the roads (regardless of manufacturer) would facilitate a safer road environment for Volvo’s customers.
While die-hard Volvo-lytes (among others) might really like these new safety initiatives, others might have some concerns.
For example, driving yourself and loved ones in a car with the ability to autonomously over-ride your decisions and actions, involves placing a great deal of trust in the reliability of the car’s software. This could be an insurmountable trust barrier for some drivers, despite the potential safety benefits.
Others might just not want to put their lives in the hands of a computer, even if it’s a clever one from Sweden.
Perhaps ironically, several of these innovative safety-focused technologies might also lead to new types of data privacy, liability, cyber and other risk classes. So as more consumers start to embrace semi-autonomous ‘smart cars’ in the near future, we’re likely to see safety improvements on our roads, as well as new emerging risks.
About the author: Aamer Fattah is a medical scientist and a Research and Innovation expert with Munich Re.
Disclosures: the author doesn’t have any relationship with or investments in Volvo, and doesn’t drive a Volvo.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any agency, organization, employer or company.
