In a decade, it may be hard to recognize vehicles—not from the exterior, but from the driving experience itself.
The transition to automated driving vehicles will revolutionize the way we commute. But there’s another technology that is likely to arrive even earlier that could also transform your driving experience: the fully connected car. This innovation will constantly communicate via Internet of Things (IOT) devices to the surrounding highway, buildings, and people to make your daily life in motion as smooth and intuitive as possible.
A preview of what the future may look like is already here, and it comes from Audi. Since last year, the premium automotive company has introduced multiple concept cars, including the Audi grandsphere concept, the Audi skysphere concept, and the Audi urbansphere concept. Each of the Audi sphere concept cars envision a future where cars are electric, outfitted with automated driving systems, and are fully connected, offering a seamless transition from personal driving to automated driving systems with custom configurations that change at the click of a button.
The new connectivity innovations in the Audi sphere family will not only transform how we drive in the future, but also how the vehicles’ interiors will morph from single-purpose spaces to ones with multiple functions, including an office for working remotely. In short, connectivity and digitalization will enable the Audi sphere family to someday be more than simply concept cars.
A Fully-Connected Vehicle Transformed From the Inside Out
No person drives the same, or uses their vehicles the same.
This is the idea behind the progressive premium mobility that Audi offers, which comes to life in a groundbreaking way in its Audi sphere family—changing a vehicle’s’ longstanding engine-compartment design to a human-centric approach that unlocks new freedom for the passengers.
Each of the sphere concept cars envision a future where the vehicle itself becomes a computer-like extension of the driver or passengers. No longer will you need to sync your phone to the vehicle for services like music streaming services or maps; the vehicle itself will offer them. Audi is taking advantage of that subtle shift to introduce seamless, premium features that create unique immersive experiences for the passengers.
For example, the Audi skysphere concept has an automated driving system with a “Grand Touring” mode, which extends the wheelbase for cruising on the open road and allows the driver to become a passenger. The steering wheel and pedals disappear while a large screen displays art or other entertainment, streamed via 5G. Imagine watching a movie on the huge high-res display, the picture being enhanced by the ambient light throughout the interior of the Audi skysphere concept, with 3D sound emanating from speakers in the headrest. This is the promise of fully connected vehicles, which will use a high-speed data connection to allow each passenger to dive into her very own experience and ecosystem.
By creating interior spaces that can be customized for each individual driver, the Audi sphere family produces new bespoke experiences for them. So while one driver may use the interior space as a movie theater for a long drive to a holiday destination, another may use it as an office space while commuting in a large city environment. The latter individual could start the work-day commute with a video conference call, then transition to finishing emails before arriving at the office, all while using the vehicle as their communication device. For another customer, the Audi skysphere concept could be a private space, even if it’s in a parking lot, that they retreat to in order to relax during a busy working day. The Audi urbansphere concept even has seats that swivel so each occupant can turn to face each other for a more natural conversation—a meeting space on wheels.
The Rise of Connected Vehicles to Everything Communication
With 5G connected vehicles, the technology transforms more than the interior space. The vehicle can connect to the wider world, allowing a series of revolutionary adaptations in the realm of vehicle-to-everything communications, or V2X.
The general idea is simple: leverage a vehicle’s on-board communication tools to sync it with other vehicles around it, as well as highway infrastructure like road signs. By doing so, the vehicle can provide real-time traffic information, preemptively react to changing road conditions, and recognize road signs and warnings. In a V2X system, the data is exchanged through vehicle sensors using high-bandwidth and high-reliability links. By itself, the system cannot create automated driving systems. But the technology could help eliminate traffic by having vehicles move together safely in a tight formation on an interstate, for example. One day it could even connect with pedestrians, so-called V2P communication, and warn them of crossing the street in front of oncoming connected vehicles. In essence, the technology is there to help give the smart vehicle a more complete picture of what’s going on around it.
The increasing number of vehicles on the road and the resulting congestion has prompted various governments to implement automotive V2X solutions to reduce fuel waste and carbon emissions. Rising environmental concerns and the need for real-time traffic flow alerts are expected to drive the demand for automotive V2X technology. The market growth is also spurred by ongoing advances related to automated driving vehicles. The global V2X market is on track to reach $3.3 billion by 2026, a dramatic increase considering the U.S.’s estimated market in 2022 is just $220.7 million.
The Audi sphere family can leverage all of these technologies to not only put the driver at the center of the driving experience, but customize it for them, whether they’re looking to road trip across the country or simply commute to work—while being able to enjoy a unique immersive experience even at rush hour.
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This article was produced by WIRED Brand Lab for Audi.
*The automated driving functions shown are technologies currently under development, and meant to represent only a possible concept.
