Remote parking and a system that can bring your car to a halt if you take your eyes off the road for too long are just two new technologies being developed by Kia.
The Korean manufacturer is showcasing futuristic new driver assistance systems, which could be coming to a company car near you soon, at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
These include a host of new labour-saving technologies including semi-autonomous driving and remote parking – helping you reduce downtime and effort spent behind the wheel.
New Kia technology will cut down on tedium
Kia is promising the new systems will help eliminate some of the dangers involved in driving and also automate some of the boring bits during a long commute too.
These include:
- Highway Autonomous Driving: using a radar and camera this system can read lane markings to ensure the car stays between the lines and can also overtake other vehicles without driver input.
- Preceding Vehicle Following: monitors the vehicle ahead so the car can follow at a safe distance even if the road markings are unclear due to poor conditions or road layout.
- Urban Autonomous Driving: uses GPS and sensors to plot the car’s position, helping it weave through congested city streets while responding to live traffic updates.
- Emergency Stop System and Driver Status Monitoring: these work in tandem and can analyse the driver to make sure they are paying attention. If you take your eyes from the road for too long, the system can automatically move to an appropriate stopping point, like a hard shoulder.
- Traffic Jam Assist: pilots the car in heavy traffic by monitoring the vehicle in front and maintaining a safe distance to it.
- Autonomous Valet Parking: allows the driver to get out of the car and watch it park itself remotely, using the smart key or a smartwatch.
Roadmap to autonomous driving laid out
As well as showcasing these new systems, Kia has announced plans to introduce semi-autonomous driving by 2020, with fully-autonomous vehicles arriving by 2030.
New ways to interact with your vehicle are also being dreamed up, including using gestures to operate the car’s controls, and a fingerprint recognition system that automatically sets up the car to your predetermined requirements.
These plans come under a new “Drive Wise” umbrella and we’ll be getting a good look at this tech at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2016.
We’ll bring you more in-depth news then.
