What can come out of this research is pretty broad. It has been a highly theoretical work mostly focusing on, “what is” and “how is”. The interviews I held and the literature I read gave me viable examples on how accessibility is a necessity if we want to achieve good and inclusive design. It is important to note that although accessibility elements are mostly focused on people with disabilities, the whole user group benefits from them. Because these methods and guidelines are aimed at making an interface/design more usable and more human centred. So it is safe to say that whatever we as designers do, if we do it “accessible”, everyone benefits.
Hence an interaction method focused specifically on elderly can’t be the main goal here. A universality is the main goal, being inclusive and designing accordingly so that the elderly can use our design, while still being used in the same sense by the rest of the population.
This research can be expanded even more in the goal of exploring more examples and establishing guidelines for designers who work in this area. Similar guidelines already exist and they can be improved in the sense of commonality and applicability. A similar outcome can be found in the article “Elderly in the Digital Era. Theoretical Perspectives on Assistive Technologies”
Another future outcome could be creating a digital interaction method to tackle certain issues faced by the elderly, without losing universality. An example for this can be seen in the article “User interface based on natural interaction design for seniors”.
Another interesting exploration could be comparing the two countries in this matter which I am connected to; Turkey and Austria. How do they compare in their practices and how do their senior population compare? How can these differences and similarities between two countries’ populations can effect a designer’s point of view. Would these populations require totally different interaction methods or could there be one single solution? How does the cultural aspect of everything change this matter?
In my last blog post I talked about techniques and costs of 2D and 3D animation process. And compared the pros and cons. Now I want to look at future trends and if you should abandon 2D.
First of all, none of these two is better than the other. It depends on own preference and what look you want to achieve. Both techniques need different skills. 2D/hand-drawn animation requires a larger amount of illustrations, because every frame needs to be drawn, while 3D needs to be modeled and rigged so it can be manipulated. 3D doesn’t require drawing skills.
Is 2D animation dead?
Short example from the computer science world: Machine Learning for example is so extremely popular nowadays because some companies like Google and Facebook decided to focus on that an put all their resources and money in this field. Other companies felt obliged to do the same, knowing they are not able to compete, but they needed to follow along in order to stay relevant.
The same has happened in animation. When companies like Pixar and DreamWorks started to do 3D and Disney decided to abandon 2D animation, that highly influenced the market. Companies push each other to a point where the technology and production costs are getting lower and lower with increasing demand. Even in live-action shows and movies, it is nowadays cheaper and faster to just use CGI. If you put a lot of money in the infrastructure, invest in render farms and dozens of PC workstations you are going to use them.
2D is a form of art it can still be profitably done. Since the early 2000s where many western studios stopped with the hand-drawn style, Japanese anime has become a leader for 2D animation. They value the tradition and the hand craft. ‘Your Name’ or its original title ‘Kimi No Na Wa’ made over $350 million world wide. This movie is a work of art. With its original story and incredible visuals it managed to attract a large audience.
Fewer artists want to go for 2D animation because they don’t think it is worth it and more money is being made with 3D movies and video games. But that doesn’t mean there is no demand for 2D anymore.
Future Trends
The demand for 2D/hand-drawn may not be in films but there is still a huge market in TV series, commercials, mobile games. Streaming services produce their own animated shows for kids and adults. Social networks like Youtube and Instagram are filled with independent creators. Also nowadays everything is getting niched down and more indie productions come out.
In the gaming industry we see how the technology evolves (ray-casting, better GPUs) and the trend is moving towards photorealism. The technology is also evolving in animation but in a different direction. With the new possibilities 2D can also profit from that, like we saw in the movie ‘Klaus’. I think the future is a mixture of 2D and 3D, taking the best of both worlds.
If comparing 2D and 3D animation, there are a few things to consider, as the production steps and the process is quite different.
Techniques and Process
2D It is achieved through sequencing. In the beginning an artist comes up with the animation concept and creates all of the unique drawings, which will be part of the animation. This set is then joined sequentially to create one second of animation. One second of animation includes typically 24 frames, where every 2 frames consist of a different drawing. The movement of the objects in the frame happens so quickly that it looks smooth to the human eye. Nowadays most animation is created through computer software instead of hand drawing. It makes the process faster and cheaper. Some popular software include Adobe Animate, Toon Boom Harmony, Adobe After Effects, and so on. 1,2
3D The creation of 3D animation has different steps and involves many different skills. Where 2D is more artistic, 3D is a bit more mechanic.
The first step is the modeling. All 3D objects that are present in the animation are created using a 3D animation program. After that the objects are textured, in this step they get their colors and details. The next step is the layout and animation. The models need to be rigged. A rig is like a skeleton, but with a more basic structure, that helps with the movement of the object. Then the background and setting are implemented and mechanics and changes are added. The last step is the rendering. The 3D objects, layout and mechanics are all combined and captured to create the completed product. In larger companies, there would be dedicated artist for sketching and layout of the scene and characters, 3D modelers, Animators, all working on their part of the whole animation. In smaller companies or when doing it on your own, you need to be competent in every step of the pipeline. 1,2
Budget and Cost
2D animation is generally considered to be more affordable than 3D. 3D requires more specific software and is more resource-heavy in software and hardware. But in the longer run it might be not as expensive, because you can reuse models and changes in scenes are easier to make. In 2D you would need to do the whole process again, whereas in 3D you can simply reposition or change up the models, camera and lighting. 1,2
2D Pros: – easy to learn – more artistic – quicker to produce – lower production cost – not so resource-heavy
Cons: – less dynamic – less in demand – less level of detail – time consuming – changes require a restart of the whole process
3D Pros: – 3D models can be reused – changes are much faster – more accurate movement – higher demand – more possibilities – more realistic and greater detail
Cons: – limited imagination – more complicated – resource-heavy (software, hardware) – long lead times (more steps before you see your character)
All over history numerous personalities in arts and science have dealt with the science of colors. This science on the one hand deals with the colors of the spectrum of light as well as with the (human) ability to perceive colours in combination with charecteristics of light under specific circumstances and surrounding factors.
Besides controversial discussions about the spectrum of colors and the “most probable“ ground colors or „unique hues“ adressing the three color receptors (sensitive to short-, middle- and long-wave rays) of the human eye, it is clear that in digital and analog media we use different systems to create specific colors for representation.
Additive color mixing
Speaking of digital media and the use of screens and projectors, the colorsystem is of additive nature. Every screen is set up with a specific amount of pixels, each containing three segments or phosphores – red, green and blue, which make the primary colors. So for red color on the screen only the red segment is actively emitting (red) light, while for blue color only the blue one and for green light only the green segment is actively lit via cathode rays. Combining two light emitting segments results in secondary colors – cyan, yellow and magenta – and combining all three segments results in the tertiary, achromatic color white. The second achromatic color black however appears on screen where no pixels are emitting light.
Combining the three primary colors at various levels of intensity or luminance makes it possible to display almost every color of the spectrum of light.
However, according to Küppel, the phosphores cannot fulfill the exact theoretic requirements and thus the secondary colors, especially yellow and cyan, appear slightly dull and „whiteish“ on screen.
Subtractive color mixing
For analog media such as print and (printed) photography we speak of subtractive color mixing using transparent colors. Here the primary colors are cyan, magenta and yelllow. Applied and combined on white (!) backgrounds these colors absorb specific wave-lenghts of light rays and result in a color stimulus we perceive after the light is reflected by the background that’s capable of reflecting the whole spectrum of color. In addition, to create the perception of the right color, not only the background has to be white, but also the light source itself has to be white. If the color spectrum of light is shifted, or the background has a (slight) colorful hue, the appearance of mixed colors will not satisfy demands.
As cyan absorbs long-wave rays (= red), it fully stimulates the receptors for green and blue on the retina. Magenta absorbs middle-wave rays (=green) stimulating red and blue receptors, while yellow absorbs short-wave rays (=blue) stimulating green and red receptors.
In subtractive mixing the secondary colors originate from the overlapping of primary colors. Thus magenta and yellow make red, magenta and cyan make blue, yellow and cyan make green and all the primary colors combined resolve into the tertiary color black, also referred to as „key“.
While the primary colors used for printing appear brillant and luminous, due to misabsorbtions the secondary colors are not as satisfying and appear rather dull and tainted.
Integrated color mixing
In addition to the use of transparent colors for print, Küppers states that for other analog techniques like painting on colored, not white backgrounds, opaque colors are needed. These colors contain specific pigments that directly reflect the light at specific wave-lengths. To mix these opaque colors we need the eight basic colors – red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, yellow, white and black – as due to the lack of transparence overlapping basic colors will not result into a mixed color.
When mixing opaque colors, according to Küppers, the neighbouring colors in the spectrum can be mixed and resolve into new colors. Adding grey tones between the achromatic colors black and white makes it possible to create a wide range of hues and colors.
The last 2D-animated film from Disney was ‘The Princess and the Frog’, which premiered in December 2009, more than 10 years ago. After that Disney focused on 3D animation, but why?
Disney was famous for its traditional hand-drawn films. It started with their first feature film ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarves’ and since then released a lot of Disney classics like ‘Pocahontas’, ‘Aladdin’, ‘The little Mermaid’, ‘The Lion King’ and so on. Throughout the 80s and 90s Disney was very successful, but with Pixar releasing ‘Toy Story’ in 1995 that changed. In the next years Pixar continued to beat Disney in the Box Office (table below).
Box Office sales comparison of Disney and Pixar Movies from the same years 1
With their new way of storytelling and animation, Pixar got more people in theatres. The competition for Disney got even worse with DreamWorks releasing ‘Shrek’, which had a box office of $484 Million. And Blue Sky also entered the game with ‘Ice Age’. Disney could not beat that and then in 2006, they bought Pixar.
The Disney animated films were not profitable anymore and when they bought Pixar, they kind of abandoned 2D animation. The money was a huge motivation for doing that. Other big companies saw that and also hopped on the CG train, because this is where the money is. It seems that the 1990s was kind of the death of 2D animated films, because in the 2000s even TV channels like Nickelodeon began to produce series with CGI.
Disney tried to get back to their 2D animations and their princess franchise with ‘The Princess and the Frog’, but afterwards in 2010 they really abandoned it. In 2013 they started laying off their animators. They removed value from their hand drawn animation work and started moving towards the computer animated work.
Disney is re-releasing their classics every few years for each new media. First it was VHS, then DVD and Blu-Ray. Now they are releasing remakes of their classics in live-action and CGI. If you look at the box office numbers for the 50 highest-grossing animated films, you find only two 2D animated movies, which are ‘The Lion King’ from 1994 and ‘The Simpsons Movie’.
Top 50 highest-grossing animated films 2
If 2D animation is really dying, than it is not Pixar’s fault, but Disney did greatly contribute to that. Disney is such a big company and has a huge influence in the business. After buying Fox, their market share grew even more and other companies are following that direction to not be left behind.
A couple days ago, I read a book, where history was not defined as chronicle, but as a series of rare bright events, that we perceive as abnormal. While, in fact, such events change our world and continue history more, then everyday life.
Covid-19 came into our life and will not leave it soon. Seems, that everything has already been written and said. But I propose to look at how it redesigns our lives in real time.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made major changes in our lives. Against this background, in particular, the digitalization process accelerated: within a few months, the number of people who work from home and shop on the Internet has sharply increased. At the same time, technologies appeared to stop the spread of the virus, which are essentially technologies for effective government surveillance of citizens.
The usual meetings were replaced by Zoom parties. Probably, everyone has visited at least one. Not to mention Zoom-birthdays, Zoom-proms, Zoom-weddings, and Zoom-all-all-all. No wonder the company earned more in the second quarter of 2020 than in the whole of 2019. In this situation, video calls began to be used not only for work and study, but also for leisure. At the beginning of the pandemic, online concerts were very popular. There were even online tours, online exhibitions, and online performances. But by the end of the year, this trend has lost its relevance.
In the spring of 2020, the world’s demand for psychotherapy has grown at a record high. The jump occurred in late March and early April, when the borders were closed and a self-isolation regime was declared. Sales of plant-based sedatives increased. In families, conflicts escalated, which had not surfaced before, because people were busy outside the house all day. Another stress factor was economic instability. Neurologists have found that people who are prone to anxiety and auto-suggestion began to detect false symptoms of the coronavirus.
The services went online. Cinemas, gyms and cafes, if they work, only in the fresh air.
Now people pay more attention to their relatives, take care of their own health and appreciate the time spent together. To be sure, the pandemic has given a dramatic boost to changes that none of us expected: appears new words in the lexicon, technology and medicine began to develop more rapidly.
The world has been exposed by drastic redesign. And we will see the consequences later.
Roma-Gruppen überlieferten ihre Geschichten vor allem mündlich. Die alphabetische Schrift wurde vor dem 20. Jahrhundert zur Kommunikation mit Nicht-Rom_nja zu wirtschaftlichen und offiziellen Anliegen genutzt.
Zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts begannen Schriftsteller*innen und Dichter*innen vermehrt ihre Werke schriftlich zu verfassen. Dies lag einem neuen Selbstbewusstsein zu Grunde, mit dem sich Rom_nja und Sinti_ze für eine kulturelle und politische Anerkennung und Eigenständigkeit einsetzen.[1] Themen waren vor allem die „Verfolgung, Diskriminierung und jahrhundertelang tradierte symbolische Repräsentationen.“[2]
Die Texte sind in der Sprache Romanes aber auch zahlreichen anderen Sprachen wie zum Beispiel Russisch oder Tschechisch verfasst.[3] Romanes ist mit dem indischen Sankrit[4] verwandt.
Mit der Gründung der Vereinigung der Roma-Schriftsteller wurde zwischen 1990 und 1992 „mehr Roma-Literatur veröffentlicht als in der ganzen 600-jährigen Geschichte der Roma auf dem Gebiet der Slowakischen und Tschechischen Republik“[5]. Zuvor wurde die „Verwendung [von Romanes] im öffentlichen Raum sanktioniert und […] von mehreren Roma selbst abgelehnt“.[6]
Die Welle der Romani-Literatur lies das „sprachliche und kulturelle Erbe […] revitalisieren“. [7] Teilweise wurden AutorInnen aber auch von Roma mit „traditionellen Sichtweisen“[8] kritisiert, da sie Themen wie Geschlechtergewalt aufarbeiteten.
Der Begriff Romani-Litaratur ist umstritten. Manche Autor*innen wollen sich der „Zugehörigkeit und Identifikation“ mit der „ethischen Identität“ entziehen, „da die Gefahr besteht, dass ihre Werke nur unter dem Blickwinkel „Roma-Literatur“ bzw. – exotisch – als ‚Zigeuner-Literatur` rezipiert und andere Komponenten ihres literarischen Werks vernachlässigt werden.“[9]
Wichtige Inhalte der Roma-Texte sind „romano čačipen (Wahrheit / Realität)“ ebenso wie das „Geheimnisvolles und Rätselhaftes“. [10] „Die Kraft eines Wortes wird in der traditionellen Roma-Gemein-schaft viel mehr geschätzt – ein Wort kann als guter oder böser Zauber wirken“.[11] Magische Wörter sind beispielsweise „jilo (Herz) / phuterel o jilo (das Herz öffnen), jekhetane (zusammen), phrala (Brüder), manuš (Mensch)“.[12]
Illustrationen sind besonders wirksam bei Abstraktionen, Vereinfachungen oder humorvollen Themen und bei der Darstellung des Abstrakten oder Fiktiven. Fotos hingegen eigenen sich bei der Abbildung bzw. Schaffung von Realität. Sie erzeugen echte Nähe und Identifikation. Beide Werkzeuge sind auf jeden Fall starke Träger für Emotionen. Und positive Emotionen sind die ersten Träger für Kaufimpulse von Kunden.
Vor allem im Produktdesign wirkt Illustration komplett anders als Fotografie. Hier kann grafische Illustration oft eine viel stärkere Wirkung erzielen und dem Produkt mehr Persönlichkeit geben. Fotografie auf der Verpackung selbst lässt die Produkte in den meisten Fällen plump und qualitativ eher minderwertig erscheinen.
Im Vergleich dazu schafft es dieses Package Design von “Glass Canned Wines” erfolgreich Fotografie in ihr Sujet einzubauen. Durch die stark reduzierte Formensprache und das Gedankenspiel, das mit den realen Darstellungen der Fotos unterstützt wird, funktioniert dieses Beispiel extrem gut und schafft es auch Qualität zu kommunizieren.
Gerade bei abstrakten Themen oder der Darstellung von Analogien oder Überhöhungen sind Illustrationen besser geeignet. Und manche Inhalte würden als Foto ziemlich schlecht aussehen oder einfach nicht ausreichen, um eine bestimmte Botschaft zu übermitteln.
Fotografie kann mit den heutigen Technologien jedoch auch super erfolgreich und relativ wirtschaftlich zur Darstellung des Fiktiven eingesetzt werden.
In dem Werbespot von Audible Deutschland entstehen durch Fotografie und manipulierte Visuals Sujets, die als Inspirationsquelle dienen, die Phantasie beflügeln und starke Empfindungen auslösen.
Wie bereits erwähnt, ergeben sich aus den Eigenschaften der Medien „natürliche“ Einsatzgebiete. Wird jedoch z.B. Illustration in einem Bereich eingesetzt, in dem Klassischerweise Fotografie verwendet wird, ergeben sich sowohl Vorteile als auch Nachteile. Als klarer Vorteil, kann die Generation von Aufmerksamkeit genannt werden, da solche Sujets oft provokativ und ungewohnt wirken können.
Webseite von Anwaltskanzlei Wolf TheissWebseite von Anwaltskanzlei Wolf Theiss
In der Kommunikation einer Anwaltskanzlei ist es wichtig professionell aufzutreten, weswegen Illustration als bildgebendes Mittel nicht unbedingt die beste oder erste Wahl ist. An diesem Beispiel sieht man jedoch, wie erfolgreich grafische Illustration hier eingesetzt werden kann. Aufgrund des Stils und der minimalistischen und reduzierten Sprache in Kombination mit Schwarz wirkt das Auftreten professionell. Die Illustrationen von Christoph Niemann fügen dem Ganzen auf alle Fälle noch Persönlichkeit und Charakter hinzu und helfen dabei Werte der Kanzlei zu vermitteln und generieren klarerweise auch Aufmerksamkeit. Der Einsatz von Illustration macht die Gestaltung informativ und unterhaltsam.
Illustration zur Darstellung des Realen:
Vor allem bei Darstellungen von Essen in Kochbüchern oder ähnlichem wird Illustration klassischerweise eher nicht verwendet – hier tut sich Illustration schwer “Reales” abzubilden. Wie kann das Problem der Wiedergabe von Realität bzw. Ausdruck von Fiktivem gelöst werden?
Einerseits funktioniert Illustration als visuelle Sprache wenn die Darstellungen extrem abstrahiert werden, wodurch es natürlicherweise zu einem Stimmungsbild bzw. einer Dekoration wird. Andererseits auch in Fällen wo man die Gerichte bereits kennt und weiß wie sie aussehen sollen/werden und wenn sie keinen Anspruch auf Realismus bzw. Wiedergabe der Realität haben. An diesem Beispiel eines illustrierten Kochbuchs sieht man, wie gut Illustrationen Stimmung und Emotionen abbilden können. Da es um traditionelle deutsche Küche geht, die die meisten Menschen innerhalb Deutschlands wahrscheinlich kennen, funktioniert diese abstrahierte Form auch extrem gut.
Das oben gezeigte Beispiel von Anni von Bergen ist ein ausschließlich mit Illustrationen bebilderter Rezepte-Reiseführer.
Diese Assoziation von Illustration mit Fiktivem kann auch relativ leicht gelöst werden. Darstellungen von Essen oder Gerichten funktionieren auch, wenn es super detaillierte und fotorealistische Illustrationen sind. In solchen Fällen kann das auch in Kochbüchern funktionieren. Wenn man die Ansprüche, die Menschen an ein Medium stellen kennt und die Schwächen bzw. Nachteile, die Illustration in diesem Kontext möglicherweise haben kann, ausgleicht funktioniert auch Illustration in diesem Bereich super.
Ein weiteres Beispiel sind Magazincover für Modezeitschriften, die traditionellerweise ausschließlich mit Fotografie bespielt werden. Wie man hier sieht kann der Einsatz von Illustration gezielt als Statement verwendet werden. In der Januar-Ausgabe 2020, machte die Vogue Italia darauf aufmerksam, wie viel Energie Modeproduktionen verbrauchen und wurde aus diesem Grund komplett illustriert. Durch den Einsatz von Illustration bekommt das Design eine ganz andere Sprache, regt eher zum Nachdenken an, bekommt einen künstlerischeren Charakter und steht für eine Idee, ein Konzept und in diesem Fall eine Kritik.
The product is the basis and often the only connection from a brand to their customer. This is why it is important to give the user the best experience with or while using the product. But before that, the user needs to buy the product and especially he needs reasons to buy it. In the best case, this is reached by convincing the user because he feels he need this certain product. Design Thinkers would say, you need to create a whole user experience about the product to make your clients happy.
This usere experience starts by collecting information about the product. Why does the consumer need it and what does it have to offer? While typical medium for this steps were the seller with a personal service, the internet or friends and acquaintance, Augmented Reality is a new way to give the user a excellent and individual experience to gain information about the product.
This kind of experience can be handled by many ways. No matter if the custumers smartphone, glasses or a headset is used to give this experience, no matter if it can be used at home, on a website or even at a shop, this will bring the product information to a next level. And not only in a fun way but also giving the feeling of being a advanced, forward-looking and competently brand or company.
Also most of the new technology poduct information medium are tending the user to buy online. Thinking of the internet where you can read blogs or recommandations for mostly all products, buying the product aferwards with only one click is very confertable but also a big issue for our local shops and the economy of small brands and companys. With giving them a digital experience via AR but in the shop, it will probably make them coming to the shops and trying out this nice and fun experience. Obviously there is a high chance of buying the product in locally in the shop afterwards.
A nice example for this is the Toyota AR experience of 2019 where they presented their new C-HR model by a AR app. It gave the customer a experience of the inner systems of the car as they where overlayed on a real ohysical car. Additional to that, the customer could even interact with the car to get more information about motor, battery and fuel tank.
Toyota – vehicle demo
Thinking one step further, this kind of information about the product can also fix problems in future. If there are light problems with your products, the AR app could offer solutions while scanning the product and offer the customer a guid for fixing. This could not only optimze the service time but also saves costs for the customer and time for the brand.
The goal about product information with AR When doing just a small research about this topic now, there are many and more applications which already ofer some kind of information about a product already. But this can also go in the wrong direction. A customer who is taking out his smartphone, maybe even downloading an app and scanning the product then will be dissappointet by just getting informations about the product which he could find out without scanning the product as well. Thinking of a food product which shows if the product is gluten free or diary free but with also having exactly this labels on the pagage already will make the user being frustrated and not using it any more. In the worse case the user would even not buying the product because of that.
Also sending the user to a social media platform or something like this is fun for the first time but would not make the user use it regularly.
Also for products where many information could be given but the surface on the pagaging is limited – for example when thinking of wine bottles – AR is a great way, to give as many information als needed to convince the customer to buy the bottle.
Regarding the current situation while touching a product in a supermarket which could have been touched before by others is the thing you absolutly want to avoid, those AR product informations become a new relevance.
So COVID 19 could have a big impact for using AR to present your product and information about it while using your own smartphone.
Artificial Intelligence is getting more and more important in the automotive industry. The value of AI in automotive is expected to approach 10 billion Euros in 2024. When talking about Artificial Intelligence and cars, most people are just thinking about self-driving cars. Despite the fact that AI is a key technology to enable cars to drive autonomously, there are a lot more AI-powered services available in modern connected cars.
All Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) like emergency braking, blind spot monitoring and lane keeping systems also depend on Artificial Intelligence. These systems are not only providing more safety and more convenience on the road, they are also helping customers, automakers and regulators to build trust in AI. This trust will play an important role when AI takes over the control of the vehicle in self-driving cars.
But Artificial Intelligence is not limited to driving features. It has the potential to optimize every process along the automotive customer journey. Some processes are already relying on AI and would not be possible without it.
Driver Monitoring
Artificial Intelligence is not just able to monitor the road and surroundings. It is also improving the safety by keeping an eye on the driver. AI is able to analyze if the eyes are on the road, how distracted the driver is and if the driver is getting tired. Depending on the status it could inform the driver to keep the eyes on the road, propose a small break at the next gas station or even safely stop the car when the driver is not reacting because of a serious medical problem.
Another example for improved safety could be the use of AI during accidents. Artificial Intelligence is able to change the seat position to a better position and how the airbags are going off depending on the position, height and weight of the driver milliseconds before the impact.
Driver Recognition
AI is also able to detect if there is a driver in the vehicle, which driver is in the car and if the driver is actually allowed to drive the car. This feature is especially helpful when different members of a family are sharing one car. The car recognizes the driver and automatically adjusts the seating position, mirrors, ambient lighting, default temperature, favorite playlist and many more. Artificial Intelligence will be one of the key factors of vehicle personalization in the future.
Connected vehicles need a lot of data for delivering all the services. AI powered platforms ensure that this data is available to the services all the time.
Traffic Forecasting
Artificial Intelligence is especially useful for analyzing a lot of data in a short time. AI powered traffic forecasting is taking traffic data from the past and predicts the future traffic situation based on data from similar days, time and conditions. It also helps with faster options for avoiding unexpected traffic jams.
Predictive Maintenance
Traditional cars are alerting their drivers with check-engine lights, oil lights and other combinations of lights in the dashboard when the damage has already happened. Sometimes this is just too late and accidents occur because of faulty parts. Connected vehicles are already monitoring all sensors with the help of AI and detect problems before they affect the driving. Artificial Intelligence is also able to monitor the wear and tear of critical parts based on the driving style, road conditions and mileage. This monitoring could also inform the driver that a specific part is going to break soon and should be replaced before something happens. In addition to hardware maintenance, automakers can also provide over the air (OTA) software updates for fixing bugs in the software, improving the functionality of the ADAS or changing the design of the infotainment without the need to visit a dealership first.
But the applications of AI in automotive are not limited to the vehicle itself. Artificial Intelligence also has the potential to optimize different processes during the manufacturing of the car.
Assembly Line Robots
While assembly line robots were already used in the 1960s, they are now also helping the humans and working with them instead of alongside them on different steps of the process. Assembly line robots are not only shortening the time a car spends in the assembly line, they are also improving safety and helping to avoid injuries like back problems due to heavy lifting. Robots are already automatically moving materials, different car parts and the car itself between the assembly lines in a lot of factories. With the further development of AI, these robots will be optimized even further.
Quality Control
Another important part during the manufacturing process is the quality control. AI is not only able to detect irregularities in materials, it is also able to identify faulty parts before they are used in a car and predict if it is cheaper to repair or replace the part completely. Image recognition also helps with identifying flaws during the manufacturing process like scratches in the paint job or small damages in the bodywork.
Supply Chain Automation
Artificial Intelligence also allows automakers to improve their supply chain management. It is able to predict the materials needed for the upcoming production based on the orders, optimize storage in the warehouses and even check the quality of the delivered parts and determine if they are good enough for using them in a car.
Automotive Insurance / Insurtech
Insurance companies are also starting to use AI for risk assessment. They are creating risk profiles based on personalized data from previously owned and rented cars, driving style and accidents. Based on this risk profile Artificial Intelligence is able to predict how safe the driver is going to be and give every driver a personalized offer. This process could significantly lower insurance rates for safe drivers, while others may have to spend more than they are spending now.
AI will also help with filing claims after an accident. A special app could guide drivers with detailed instructions after an accident and explain exactly which videos, photos and descriptions will be necessary to process the claim as fast as possible. Correctly created claims could even be processed by AI again and give an immediate response about the next steps. It would even be possible that AI analyzes the videos and pictures of the damaged car and tells the driver which repair shop is able to fix the problem, how long it will take and what’s covered by the insurance.
AI and In-Vehicle Infotainment Systems
In-vehicle infotainment systems (IVI) are also known as in-car infotainment systems (ICI) and provide an unique combination of information and entertainment. These systems are the only digital component of a car and are therefore also getting more important. Infotainment systems in modern cars include audio and video content, games, social media, navigation, phone calls and even in-car office features. Despite this range of features, only 56 percent of car owners are currently satisfied with their IVI.
In-car infotainment systems are also a major factor when drivers are purchasing a new car. Modern vehicles have already evolved from hardware-driven machines to software-driven electronic devices. Because of this shift, AI is also becoming more important for ICI.
AI-powered personal assistants like Siri and Alexa have already changed the way people are interacting with technology in their homes and on their phones. These voice-controlled assistants are now also shifting the automotive industry. Voice and gesture controlled interfaces allow an easy and intuitive interaction with in-car infotainment systems. With the help of these systems drivers are able to interact with their car, without taking their eyes off the road.
MBUX (Mercedes Benz) is a good example for a voice-controlled in-car personal assistant which can change nearly every setting of the infotainment. The AI behind this system learns the drivers habits and preferences and is even able to improve from time to time. MBUX is also capable of indirect command recognition. That means that it is able to recognize sentences like “Hey Mercedes, I’m cold” and automatically changes the temperature.
Individual Marketing
In-vehicle infotainment systems can also be used for individual marketing. With the help of Artificial Intelligence, drivers and passengers could even get personalized offers or suggestions based on their preferences, needs and habits – displayed directly on the in-car infotainment. Companies could even target potential customers when they are driving by their shops – The possibilities of AI in the automotive industry are endless.
