Human-Machine Interface – A Whole New World of Opportunities in The Automotive Sector

After all the resourceful insights we shared so far, this is the part we hardly like – arriving at the last chapter of our phenomenal Digital Transformation In The Automotive Sector Guide Series.

Honestly, it was great sharing all our observations, expert opinions, insights, experience and expertise on all things automotive over the series of chapters.

Starting from the overview on the current automotive sector to exploring in detail about autonomous cars , automotive IoT , artificial intelligence in vehicles and more, we covered them all. We broke down industries into diverse fragments and explored the challenges in each. We also pointed out seamless solutions that could work wonders for your business.

But like every good thing that comes to an end, we have to come to our last chapter as well. And this is on Human-Machine Interface (HMI).

We thought of ending the series with a bang and what better topic than a trending concept that is revolutionizing the automotive industry currently. Companies and vehicle manufacturers across the world are gradually moving towards manufacturing vehicles with advanced intelligence systems and the more they lean towards digital transformation, the more human-machine interface systems would become inevitable.

But what is the concept in the first place?

What challenges does it pose to manufacturers and brands?

Can these challenges be resolved?

Well, we are about to find out.

What Is A Human-Machine Interface?

In simple words, the interface that simplifies the communication between a human and a machine (and vice versa) is called a human-machine interface. It could be a software application, an ecosystem of hardware peripherals or both. In this concept, human actions are converted into signals that are understood by machines and in turn, signals are converted into visual mediums that can be easily interpreted by humans.

A simple example of human-machine interface is your speech-to-text conversion.

As far as automotive HMIs are concerned, these bridge the gap between vehicle and driver interaction and provide optimum insights to drivers to help them make better driving decisions, have optimized infotainment services, ensure safety of passengers and drivers and more.

Communication in HMIs is real-time and the data is generated from not just the operating vehicle but the real-world environment, too. Some examples of automotive HMIs include gesture control, Augmented Reality (AR), speech recognition, dictation and more.

Some Important Numbers on Automotive Human-Machine Interface Systems

• In the year 2019, the market value of automotive HMIs was around 60610mn .
• By the year 2025, this value is estimated to reach around 89520mn.
• This surge is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.2% in the next five years.

Challenges Involved In Automotive HMIs

Bringing together humans and machines on the same page is tough and what's tougher is the deployment of adequate technologies, concepts and devices to make this union a reality. Automobile manufacturers and innovators face tons of different challenges in utilizing the full potential of automotive HMIs. For your understanding, we have handpicked the most common concerns to get started.

Let's check them out.

Safe Navigation From One Point To Another

One of the first concerns in deploying automotive HMIs is that the systems should foster a safe environment for navigation from one point to another. This means the data they process and present must be as accurate and concise as possible. If a vehicle has to take a left turn in 200 metres, it has to be accurately presented to the driver to reach their preferred destination. This is what machine-to-human communication is all about. Without this, there wouldn't be a need for a system in the first place.

UI/UX For Interaction

The whole purpose of deploying a human-machine interface is to make communication seamless. All the raw and unorganized data collected by diverse vehicle components should all be compiled into insights and be presented to users. And this is where aesthetics and usability come in.

A driver or a user should be seamlessly able to use the interface, get required insights and do more preferred actions. If the system is not intuitive enough or is too complex for usage and in-app navigation, users would tend to get frustrated with them, ultimately leading to abandonment.

So, the UI/UX must be designed keeping in mind users first and then functionalities.

Real-time Traffic Updates

HMIs should also gather data from external sources (and the world) and offer real-time traffic updates to drivers and users. The system should consistently keep track of the current route and detect any congestion, piling up, slow-moving traffic, blocked roads or other hindrances and immediately report the same to users. This will help either drivers or decision support systems to come up with quick responses such looking for alternate routes.

Here again, the insight on traffic shared must be in a format that is comprehensible to users.

Deep Integration of Automotive Software

Every vehicle, today, comes with its own custom automotive software that packages diverse functionalities, convenience and features into one experience. From gesture-controlled infotainment to advanced telematics, everything is combined into one element.

For optimum driving experience, HMIs should be seamlessly integrated with the prevailing automotive software. If this does not happen, HMIs will be standalone modules without a purpose and other tech features would be modules without an interface.

Drivers Control

There are times when drivers experience extreme fatigue or struggle to keep their eyes open because of prolonged hours of driving. Instances like these are threats to not only the driver and passengers of that particular car but everyone else on the road, too. They can cause major accidents and damage to life and property.

That's why driver monitoring systems are needed that would consistently track and supervise driver behaviour through their lane disciplines, balance and other activities and warn them if anomalies are detected. This could be an alarm or an alert through HMI systems. 

Lack Of Smooth Interaction

Interaction between a person and a machine can be only made possible when the right human-machine interface systems are built and deployed. Without this integration, humans would never be able to make sense of the data generated or identify what insight refers to what data touchpoint, its inferences and consequences. A poorly designed and deployed HMI is equal to not having one. 

Reactive Behaviour For Vehicle Malfunctioning

The human-machine interface should also offer instant updates on probable vehicle malfunctioning. This means the data generated from multiple vehicle components on their health should be monitored and processed by backend modules. And these insights should be immediately compiled and presented to users for them to make appropriate decisions.

For instance, any minor change in the vehicle's braking system should be identified and presented to users. This will allow drivers to either get their vehicle serviced or call for remote assistance.

Adding another layer of convenience, human-machine interface systems could also present drivers with multiple options they would like to execute when a vehicle component is about to malfunction. This will allow drivers to take a decision and the car to execute the decision.

Decision-making For Driving

HMI systems should also assist drivers in their decision-making processes. For instance, insights from multiple data touchpoints should reach drivers and help them know information on crucial aspects such as traffic, weather conditions, failing engine or braking system, approaching toll booths and more for them to make adequate driving decisions. 

Fixing The Challenges Involved In Automotive HMIs

The challenges we have discussed so far can be easily fixed with appropriate tech deployment. And here we have compiled some of the most airtight solutions to them. Let's find out what they are.

UI For Instrument Cluster

In any smart vehicle, there are clusters of tech devices working on a myriad of components. Each device is responsible for a specific functionality. And the combined insights are what translate into one extensive driving experience.

From a user perspective, it is impossible to have separate interfaces for all devices out there. This will only complicate usage. That's when a comprehensive UI for the entire cluster comes into the picture. This UI brings in elements from different functionalities and turns them into modules or actionable features that can be controlled and used by drivers.

With the UI for instrument cluster, drivers can

• operate in-vehicle infotainment features
• get vehicle diagnostics insights
• view, operate and modify routes and maps
• call, send and receive texts
• get a real-time view of fuel or charge left in vehicles and more from a single place.

Enhanced In-vehicle UX

Now, in-vehicle experience is a blend of different modules in itself. In-vehicle features directly influence the way a driver or a passenger feels inside the vehicle and how convenient it is for them to drive a particular car. That's why the user experience has to be designed for optimum in-vehicle convenience and these systems exactly do that.

With the help of optimized in-vehicle UX, users can get more things done with minimal actions such as hand gestures to change song or radio channels, dictate instructions to modify in-car temperature or pull-out maps, ask questions on service centres, gas stations or charging pods nearby and more. The whole point of UX is to let drivers do their job of driving yet perform ancillary tasks with ease.

Integrated Web and Mobile Navigation

Integration web and mobile navigation systems combine web and mobile functionalities into a single element to offer drivers an extensive driving experience. With these systems, applications that offer web and mobile experience can be integrated into one. For instance, a simple mobile application can allow drivers to operate their web-based apps in their car for infotainment or other driving purposes. More on this is discussed as a case study. 

Head Up Displays

Head Up Displays are revolutionary concepts that mimic the experience flying a military-grade airplane. In simple words, these are advanced display units that allow drivers to look at crucial pieces of information without having to look away from the glass or the road. The information is simply projected onto the glass to help them make the right driving decisions. Some of the insights that are shared include:

• navigation
• battery or fuel remaining
• distance and time of journey
• speed
• traffic and more

Rear Seat Entertainment Systems

Rear seat entertainment systems are gradually becoming more necessities than luxury and this is mainly because of the innovations happening in the automotive HMI sector. With conventional entertainment systems demanding passengers to adjust their seating positions to view a video inside the car, modern solutions have made it possible to offer personalized rear-seat entertainment to all passengers. With these interface systems, individual passengers can choose what they want to watch, listen or even read.

This is increasingly becoming in cab services, where in-car entertainment is a USP in many countries.

Voice Recognition And Guidance

Voice functionality is a two-way feature:

• it allows drivers or users to dictate instructions and execute tasks
• and it allows machines to communicate with humans with text-to-speech

Both offer optimum convenience because they don't distract drivers from driving and are least intrusive when deep, personal conversations are happening enroute. With voice features, drivers can command the HMI system to play a particular song, suggest alternate routes, find specific information online and they can also get turn-by-turn navigation, voice-based search results, seatbelt warnings and more in return from machines.

Realistic 3D Rendering

Realistic 3D rendering combines elements of mixed reality and advanced real-time immersive maps that offer the most comprehensive details on navigation to drivers. If you've ever played open-world games on consoles, you would exactly know what 3D-rendered maps would look like. These are more precise, are populated with real-time information and extremely resourceful for drivers. 

Case Study

Head-up Screen

The future of driving is redefined with the Head-up Screen app. The specifically designed app for the Head-up Screen product you have as an accessory in your car. This app connects web and mobile functionality together to offer you a comprehensive experience. Having a device that can project crucial driving and road information like maps, navigation, speed, temperature and more, this app will allow you to control the accessory from remote.

With the app, you can increase or decrease the device's brightness, get details on additional parameters such as torque, toggle component information and more. The app connects to your accessory through wireless internet. 

The Future of Automotive HMI

Now, this might seem a little too far-fledged or fictional but some of the aspects we are about to present are already in their R&D stages or their prototypes are being worked on.

Firstly, we foresee an evolution in the automotive HMI spectrum, where user experience will be completely replaced with advanced kinematics and usage. We are looking at the replacement of touch-based inputs with completely gesture-based controls, which will allow drivers to pull up a virtual screen mid-air and then execute preferred actions. Technologies like RADAR are being researched for deployment in vehicles.

Moreover, vehicles will also begin to learn more about their drivers and their preferences. Meaning, vehicles will build relationships with owners and respond to their behaviours and personalities.

Also, with the evolution of ADAS (Advanced Driving Assistance Systems), steering wheels will also become movable, where it can be switched from one person to another for driving purposes.

Wrapping Up

The instances we've mentioned are already on the works and there's nothing to be surprised about them. It's only a matter of years before we get to see them in action. But for that however, complex HMI solutions need to be developed and deployed. The evolution in HMIs will influence the vehicles of tomorrow. That's why we recommend you get started with your automotive HMI ambitions today.

Get in touch with us if you want to get advanced human-machine interface systems built and integrated with your vehicles and concept cars. We will deliver the finest solution based on your ideas and needs. From advanced infotainment solutions to assisted driving modules, our revolutionary HMI modules will do them all.

Reach out to us today.