With cars continuously evolving and being filled to the brim with new technology as time goes by, 2021 has lots in store for us when it comes to new features within cars. Let’s take a look at 5 new potential car technologies that may be available in 2021.
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Bosch Virtual Visor
The current standard method of avoiding sunlight shining in your eyes during driving is to pull down your sun visor, which is usually made out of the same material your interior is. It’s an old technology now and hasn’t really changed much since their inception in 1924. Bosch have decided to end this old tech and implement a new feature.
The Bosch Virtual Visor is a transparent LCD screen that you fold down, just like the normal sun visor. This time though there are no plastic parts and manual adjustments. The Virtual Visor automatically tracks your head movement with an in-car RGB camera and creates a black section to block the sunlight. The areas around your head stay transparent for better visibility. Truly a futuristic piece of tech!
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In-Car Amazon Alexa Voice Recognition
Amazon Alexa is a common technology in households these days and with good reason thanks to its ability to control devices through voice commands. But what about cars? Amazon have been working diligently with car manufacturers to get Amazon Alexa integrated into them. Soon you’ll be able to simply say “Alexa turn my car heating up” and your car’s interior heating fans will warm up for you. This will be great for keeping concentration on the road without having to avert it you look at buttons or touchscreens.
Keep in mind that in-car technology such as Amazon Alexa will only be available in brand new cars and not older cars, as the technology will arrive as part of the package. An easy and cheap way to get a new car these days is to use car leasing, which is an affordable way to get a brand-new car.
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Continental Intelligent Tyres
Intelligent tyres are being developed by tyre giant Continental. These intelligent tyres will use a scientifically engineered, electrically conductive rubber compound that monitors real-time information such as tread depth temperature and pressure. All of this information will be displayed on your cars infotainment system and any important alerts such as high tyre temperatures, low pressure or punctures will flash up to let you know.
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Cycle Turning Assistance
As more and more cyclists take to the road’s car accidents involving them are more likely than ever. Many car manufacturers have been keen to implement autonomous interventions that allow your car to automatically brake if a cyclist collision is imminent.
Cycle Turning Assistance is a new feature set to be brought into mainstream vehicles in 2021 (or at the max 2022) that automatically detects a cyclist in your blind spots. If a cyclist is in your blind spot and you turn your wheel to turn in, the car will detect this and automatically stop the car and put the hazard lights on to warn cars behind you.
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3D Displays & Augmented Reality
We’ve had the ability to use car based integrated sat navs since the early 2000s, but the next step for manufacturers is to have 3D models within your car. Japanese car manufacturer Nissan are spearheading the technology with their Invisible-to-Visible system which creates a virtual 3D map inside your car. This uses technology such as Google Earth and GPS to map out your location and create a real-time 3D image. How far away is this technology? Not far as Mercedes showcased this type of technology in their own A Class Hatchback in 2019.