OEMs are striving more than ever to differentiate their infotainment offerings with HMI. Proximity sensors, gestures, and natural language speech recognition are hot topics which OEMs are using to differentiate the in-vehicle experience.
This is part of a larger trend that we see extending beyond the automotive environment, as we head toward the “invisible experience” which consists of:
- Less cognitive effort, which will be required for simple interactions, as more advanced HMI become available
- Machine intelligence and context awareness, which will be utilized for more complicated tasks to validate user intentions and help them recover.
In the automotive space, OEMs are pursuing gesture recognition, proximity sensors, and other innovative HMI for differentiation. However, for many of these HMI, the differentiation will have a minimal impact on the actual UX, as they have minimal usefulness.
Meanwhile, for connected services, touchscreens and natural language speech recognition are vital for a compelling user experience. Touchscreens can provide an experience similar to smartphones and lend to easy discoverability of features, while natural language speech recognition provides the ability to carry out complex tasks in a safe manner.
The full report, Automotive HMI Trends: Natural Language and Touchscreens Required for Connectivity, is available for clients of Automotive Consumer Insights and Automotive Multimedia and Communications Service.