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Coding For Cars: The Next Generation of Mobile Apps

Posted by samzenpus on from the code-and-drive dept.

snydeq writes Developers will need to rethink UIs, connection strategies, and how to capitalize on new data streams — especially as autonomous cars start rolling off the lots, writes InfoWorld's Peter Wayner, in a forward-thinking article on developing apps for cars, including autonomous cars to come. "Delivering data to cars, autonomous or not, will take a whole new way of thinking. Rectangles will always be rectangles, but automobile network connections are spotty and the user interface needs to compete — if that's the right word — with the objects on the road for the right amount of attention from the driver. Here are eight ways developers will need to rethink their app strategies when it comes to delivering apps for cars."

24 comments

  1. Adverts! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It's a good job these cars are autonomous. Unfortunately this means people sitting in them are a captive audience.

    Expect to see a lot of advertisements on your commute.

    1. Re:Adverts! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's a good job these cars are autonomous. Unfortunately this means people sitting in them are a captive audience.

      Expect to see a lot of advertisements on your commute.

      This is why we need open source in cars more than ever; if we allow cars to have apps, there's no stopping the providers acting as gateways nickel and diming us.

      I don't want to be paying Ford to use the latest app of the day.

  2. UI Needs to compete? by GrahamCox · · Score: 5, Insightful

    the user interface needs to compete

    No. A thousand times no. The UI of in-car equipment must not compete in any way for the driver's attention. A good UI would require no sight at all, but would provide a consistent placement, easy to find without taking your eyes off the key task you have as a driver - driving, provide consistent and non-visual feedback, and work 100% reliably every time. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you... the "switch".

    1. Re:UI Needs to compete? by AuMatar · · Score: 2

      I wish I had some modpointa today. Competing for driver attention=causingcrashes=people die. Unless your app is for passengers only, it shouldn't fucking exist.

      --
      I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
    2. Re:UI Needs to compete? by grimmjeeper · · Score: 2

      I think they're talking about how to target advertisements at people once they are letting their autonomous car drive and they don't need to focus attention on the road.

      I'm pretty sure they don't need to rebuild the existing mobile infrastructure to stream data to people in their cars. Passengers seem to be doing just fine with the apps on their mobile devices while the driver is worrying about the car.

      Besides, autonomous cars are a very long ways off. Sure, we'll be getting more and more safety features as they work towards autonomy. And we'll get closer to autonomy over the years. But the last thing we want to do is to throw in a bunch of distracting crap while the driver still needs to stay focused on the road. For the passengers? Sure. Adding features for people who have no responsibility for controlling the vehicle is something that someone would buy. But until we have truly autonomous cars and the driver is 100% taken out of the loop, the last thing we need is a computer bombarding the driver with distractions.

    3. Re:UI Needs to compete? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Slashdot editor: "Hmmm, slow news day. Let's run another article about autonomous cars."

      Problem is, it seems like the editors are saying this EVERY DAY now.

      Autonomous cars are so very far off.

    4. Re:UI Needs to compete? by sanf780 · · Score: 1
      The problem with infotainment is that it probably will not get upgraded for ten years or so. A valid comparison is Windows XP lifecycle, twelve years. Just imagine how much computers can evolve over twelve years, and how old fashioned your infotainment kit will be, like a Windows XP pre-SP1.

      As these systems will not get upgraded for a long time, they also need to be very robust with a good track of it. Nobody wants to reboot a car subsystem, ehem, unlike Ford Sync.

    5. Re:UI Needs to compete? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      No. A thousand times no. The UI of in-car equipment must not compete in any way for the driver's attention.

      Ladies and gentlemen, I give you blind spot monitoring, critical fault detection, infrared obstacle detection... three situations in which the in-car equipment can usefully compete for the driver's attention.

      A good UI would require no sight at all, but would provide a consistent placement,

      The car has to give you information which can only reasonably be communicated visually. More information could be communicated audibly, but if it can't be done verbally then it's unsuited for general use because you can't expect people to treat their car like R2-D2 and interpret clicks and whistles.

      Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you... the "switch".

      Unless it's got force feedback, it's not going to be able to tell you that there's something in your blind spots... unless it's up your arse.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    6. Re:UI Needs to compete? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Audio is king, but tactile feedback could also be useful. Four vibrators in the edges of a seat, tied to four proximity sensors front, back and sides on the outside of the car could be *very* useful.

  3. add it to the list by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Another fucking thing I do not want. I will drive my 90s car until it dies.

  4. music and news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    "And if cars are going to compete in the coming market, they’ll need to give people access to their music, the news, and much more." If only there was some wireless, easy to operate, no eyes off road system that would deliver music and news to cars... wait... nevermind!

  5. Why will a car have much UI at all by SuperKendall · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If you think about a real driverless car, why would it have much UI at all?

    I would think, a screen that would tell you where it was going, an estimated time, and some way to select music.

    Mostly it would be told where to go through voice and verify by showing you a map.

    More complex things could be done with a tablet or phone app. The UI of the car doesn't need to compete with anything, because it's just a transport you are traveling in.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re: Why will a car have much UI at all by shitzu · · Score: 1

      For instance - i use my phone to run waze while driving - why on earth can't I install it to my car's head unit (2014 model, so not that old). For instance my car has a camera it uses to track lanes - why can i not use it's picture in a traffic recorder app? And so on. I can name a dozen things my current car would be able to do by a software update alone (or an "app" in modern parlance).

    2. Re: Why will a car have much UI at all by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      Very true. It's frustrating that every modern car is not fitted with slots front, rear and sides for any camera you want - and whatever screen is built into the car generally reachable via AirPlay (or the Android equivalent).

      I also use Waze all the time, with a car phone mount - a big 7" LCD on the dash sits there display album artwork mostly. What a waste!

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    3. Re:Why will a car have much UI at all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      some way to select music.

      And bass. And treble. And seek. And pause. And movie/tv selection. And climate control. And lighting. And windows/sunroof/curtains/blinds. And seat reclining. And headrest adjustment.

    4. Re:Why will a car have much UI at all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      UI = User Interface
      That screen conveying where the car is going and the estimated time if part of a user interface. That voice interface by which you command the vehicle is also part of the user interface. That map that is displayed for verification, is also part of the user interface. There are a few other things I would like to know, though. I would be interested in knowing remaining fuel (whether gasoline, fuel cell, battery charge, or hydrogen), for example. This would allow me to judge whether I can make it to the destination and back or not. If the car had some way to let me gauge the fuel level, I could plan the best times for me to refuel. Such a hypothetical gauge would also be part of the user interface.
      Some people prefer to use the term HMI (human-machine interface).

    5. Re: Why will a car have much UI at all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's mainly referred to as CHI, computer human interaction.

  6. Coding for cars by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, I for one have experienced first hand the work of Indian programmers. They don't use an else statement properly. Moreover, they have no clue how to make something simple as possible. They have a tendency to highly over complicate and obfuscate any program they are involved with.
    This may be the warning that the great minds are so afraid of in our time. Ever wonder why plane, train and car accidents happen with unintended results? Piss poor programming from India. Fiat, Toyota, GM, WABTEC, Bombardier, Ford, the list goes on.

  7. Do not want! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I don't need this crap in my car. I want it to go forward, backward and turn in either direction. I hope I'm gone before this becomes the norm. You won't be able to scratch your giblets without it being logged, recorded and shared with an ad company and the government. The future - it's going to suck.

  8. A matter for free software by HongPong · · Score: 1

    One hopes that GPL compatible software can be installed. As Stallman pointed out in his Libreplanet keynote a couple weeks ago, the separate computers are not really designed correctly to defend the other parts from runaway music player components or whatever. Having a Michael Hastings style crash is only a few malfunctions away...

    --
    --hongpong.com
  9. "InfoWorld" and "a forward-thinking article" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The words "InfoWorld" and "a forward-thinking article" just don't go together. Slashdot ought to have warning tags in the headlines.

    [InfoWorld spam] Coding For Cars

    [PACKT] Book Review: Using VIM Underwater

    [Hazelton] Some 10,000,000 Word Article No One Reads

    etc

  10. My dream car by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When this stuff starts to hit cars, I will be the first in line to buy the no frills model. Give me a forward and reverse option. An FM radio and A speedometer.

    That's all I need. Anything else I need is ALREADY ON MY PHONE.

  11. More than that... by kuzb · · Score: 1

    Car audio makers need to rethink pricing for in-dash infotainment systems. Most are starting at $500 for hardware that has low resolution resistive touchscreen displays and processors that are more than 5 years out of date. At present, no Android head unit is worth buying because it's marked up so horribly - sometimes by as much as 1000%.

    --
    BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
  12. Horrible Idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Smart cars are you people nuts?!

    Hope you enjoy having all your air bags + brakes disabled by some virus while flying down the cliff.