Windows 10, in the car
Windows 10 is almost everywhere: it’s on the laptop, phone, Xbox, the Surface Hub, HoloLens, and some IoT devices. Windows 10 introduces powerful new platforms such as the Universal Windows Platform, which allowed Microsoft to introduce a pretty useful feature to Windows 10 Mobile — and that’s Continuum.
Continuum allows a Windows 10 mobile owner to get a real PC-like experience on their phone by connecting it to an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse. I have been thinking about this for a little while now: what if users could get a similar experience with their Windows 10 mobile device on some other places?
Please meet “Windows 10, in the car” a concept I have been working on over the past week which shows how a Windows 10 Mobile could power the infotainment system in your car. For the sake of simplicity, I’ll be calling the system “Windows 10 Auto” from now on.
Let’s get started.
The Idea
The idea for Windows 10 Auto is pretty simple. When you get in the car, you can simply dock your Windows 10 mobile into the car, or connect it via a wire which will automatically start Windows 10 Auto.
The process will offer a seamless experience for users as it will not require them to setup all apps separately — meaning that everything they have setup on their Windows 10 mobile device will already be there for them in their car thanks to Windows 10 Auto.
Windows Developers who are willing to support Windows 10 Auto will be able to build experiences specifically for Windows 10 Auto just like they can with the Xbox One or Windows Holographic. Developers will, of course, have to build experiences that are easy to use, have easily accessible controls and overall offer a simple experience for users in their cars.
Let’s take a deeper look.
The Homescreen
What you see below is the homescreen for Windows 10 Auto. The homescreen provides all the necessary information to the user, with easily accessible actions that’ll make navigating the system much easier.
The header of the system will give users notifications from some of their most used apps that are configurable from your Windows 10 Mobile. It’ll work with Outlook Calendar to show how many meetings you have on a day, and it’ll also show you the weather, how many calls you have missed on your phone, etc. The notification section will show you notifications from your Windows 10 Mobile’s lockscreen, and you will be able to configure them any way you like.
The cards in the homescreen for Auto would be the most intelligent part of the system. The homescreen will show cards depending on a range of different variables, including the time of the day, the weather, your car’s fuel level, your work level, and more.
In the above concept, the system provides cards which it thinks will be the most useful to the user. For example, as it’s the start of the day, the system assumes that the user is heading to their work — and therefore, it’s showing a card for Windows Maps which will provide directions as soon as the user taps on it. Moreover, the system is aware of the fact that the user’s car is low on fuel, which is why it’s showing a Fuel Meter that has data regarding the nearest gas station, and it also estimates the remaining miles with the current fuel level.
These cards will be integral part of Windows 10 Auto as it’s imperative for users to have access to things exactly when they need it.
At the bottom of the homescreen, there’s a very easy to use navigation bar that gives users access to some other parts of the system, including Cortana, and more.
Cortana
Voice commands are really important on infotainment systems. Windows 10 already has a personal assistant that can do a lot of stuff — and that’s Cortana.
Windows 10 Auto will have Cortana just like any other Windows 10 device, but Cortana on Windows 10 Auto would allow users to control literally every aspect of the system with their voice. This is especially important as users may not be able to interact with the system via touch input at times, so voice commands will be really useful in situations like this.
Cortana would allow users to call their favourite contacts, control music playing on Groove Music, get details about their car, read emails, and a lot more.
Here’s an example of how Cortana would allow users to make a call to one of their favourite contacts with the voice command “Hey Cortana, make a call.” Or they can simply dictate “Hey Cortana, call my wife.”
Groove Music
Here’s how Groove Music should look like on Windows 10 Auto — it will include easy to access controls, and a simple way of switching between songs just be swiping left/right. The app will also show the progress of a music playback on the bottom (which the users can swipe to back to a certain part of the song).
People
The People app will also have a similar experience on Windows 10 Auto, which gives users access to all of their favourite contacts:
Concluding
This is just a quick look at how Windows 10 Auto would look and work: a simple, easy to navigate user interface that gives users access to the most important things in their life on their car without having to look at their phone. Just connect your phone to Auto, and you’re good to go.
