WHAT ABOUT AUTONOMOUS CARS?
When developing this UI, the first order of business was to assess whether there was a valid use case for this system. The biggest variable was autonomous driving technology. After all, if you can use your smartphone while the car drives itself, this UI concept is rather pointless.
After conducting much investigation, I’ve come to the following conclusions:
1. The development lifecycle of an automobile ranges from 18-36 months, depending on the complexity of the car. From the time production begins, the body style will typically stay on the market for 6-8 years with only minor changes to its design.
2. At the current rate of innovation, the market leaders should have 100% autonomous drive technology ready by 2018-2019. The regulatory process should be complete by 2019-2020.
3. If 100% of all cars produced today were equipped with autonomous technology, it would take roughly 20 years for them to replace the current fleet of vehicles on the road. Until the majority of vehicles are autonomous and have some form of V2V communication, it is unlikely that the steering wheel will be removed from mainstream automotive design. It will likely take around 10 years for that to occur.
4. The first iterations of autonomous technology will likely require some human intervention for certain edge cases. A likely ratio of computer control versus driver control would be a 70/30 split for the first releases.
5. It is extremely unlikely that a mainstream automobile will be designed without a steering wheel, or the intent of a human having at least partial control, for about 10 years. Despite having a steadily diminishing role, human drivers will still actively participate in piloting automobiles.
Based on the above statements, I’ve decided that there is definitely a valid use case for a sophisticated UI that greatly improves the current state of affairs.
Until a fully tested autonomous system is released, it is unlikely that car companies will design their products without the intent of partial or majority human control. Where there is human control, there is potential for human error. As long as there is human control, this UI is sorely needed.
Everything designed from now until 2019, will be guaranteed to have a steering wheel. Those designs will remain on the market for 6-8 years after their release. Even if they use autonomous technology, they were certainly designed with the intention of partial or majority human control.
In short, people will be driving themselves either part-time or full-time for a while. That makes design this UI worth my time.
Intellectual Property
These ideas are currently being assessed and filed with the appropriated IP registries. I have high confidence in the ethics and integrity of the companies which I’ve approached regarding these ideas. However, it's better to be safe than sorry. Any resulting patents will be not be exercised if I am involved with the implementation of the encapsulated ideas.