Mexican Media Brands
Gilles: Autonomous Tech Needs to Be Attractive—or Invisible
Emerging driver assist and fully autonomous systems should be visually appealing—or at least not unattractive—to help the technology catch on with consumers, asserts Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV design chief Ralph Gilles.
Share
Emerging driver assist and fully autonomous systems should be visually appealing—or at least not unattractive—to help the technology catch on with consumers, asserts Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV design chief Ralph Gilles.
Next-generation models need to put such technology in a “much more attractive package,” Gilles said during a keynote address at this week’s Chicago auto show. To highlight how not to introduce advanced tech features, Gilles showed images of clunky roof-mounted sensors used in prototype self-driving cars.
He points to electric vehicles as an example of how designers have embraced new technology. Eliminating the engine, for example, provides greater packaging flexibility that allows designers to move an EV’s wheels farther into a car's corners.
Carmakers also must work together more often and develop new partners to shape consumer awareness, improve acceptance and build a supporting infrastructure for future mobility systems, Gilles says. Launching new technologies and services will require “unforeseen collaboration,” he notes, with multiple industries joining together to “get things done.”
RELATED CONTENT
-
Multiple Choices for Light, High-Performance Chassis
How carbon fiber is utilized is as different as the vehicles on which it is used. From full carbon tubs to partial panels to welded steel tube sandwich structures, the only limitation is imagination.
-
The Koenigsegg Jesko Has An Amazing Engine
It is hard to believe that this is a vehicle in “serial” production with such extraordinary powertrain performance
-
Jeeps Modified for Moab
On Easter morning in Moab, Utah, when the population of that exceedingly-hard-to-get-to town in one of the most beautiful settings on Earth has more than doubled, some people won’t be hunting for Easter eggs, but will be trying to get a good look at one of the vehicles six that Jeep has prepared for real-life, fast-feedback from the assembled at the annual Easter Jeep Safari.
