Demonstrated at July's British International Motor Show in London, UK, Sony Ericsson and Saab have collaborated to use a P1 smartphone, with an UIQ 3 touchscreen application and Bluetooth, to remotely control elements of Saab's 9-X BioHybrid concept car.
Sony Ericsson collaborates with many car manufacturers to optimize the in-car experience for responsibly using mobile phones to make and receive calls and play music. Visit www.sonyericsson.com/car to find out more.
When the General Motors Europe Advanced Design Team started developing the Saab 9-X BioHybrid concept, the focus was on re-defining the conventional premium compact car for younger target groups that favor progressive design, efficient performance and easy access to high tech communications. The Saab 9-X BioHybrid shows how progressive Saab design combines with smart features and responsible, rightsizing performance.
Seamless driver and co-driver, car and phone integration was in integral element in the development. The idea was to use one or multiple phones as central hubs for the driver and co-driver to interact with the car and each other. This bi-directional communication allows the phone to control personalized functions in the car.
To turn this idea into reality, they selected the Sony Ericsson P1 and W960 phones as they matched Saab's technology needs and collaborated with Sony Ericsson Developer World to develop an UIQ 3 application as a proof of concept.
"Sony Ericsson is well known for its progressive design and high level of innovation. Therefore we felt that this would be a good match to the Saab brand. One of our main challenges was to make sure that we choose the ideal device and software to ensure the seamless integration with the car systems," says Anthony Lo, Director of Advanced Design at General Motors Europe.
"It is a question of technology performance as well as experience in working with it. We have already used Symbian OS technology in previous projects with positive results so it is a system we have confidence in. Bluetooth technology supplies a direct link between car and phone and is not dependent on network infrastructure or influenced by mobile network coverage limitations."The Saab 9-X BioHybrid concept car was premiered at the Geneva Motor Show 2008. Saab and Sony Ericsson used the 2008 British International Motor Show in London as another platform to showcase the collaboration of "seamless car & phone integration".
Application overview
The UIQ 3 application pairs the P1 or W960 with the car via Bluetooth and allows the end-user to remotely select exterior or interior functions using the phone’s touchscreen. You can:
- Control ambient lightning
- Control front and rear seat settings
- Lock the car
- Open the tailgate
- Switch on and off the lights (blinkers, main lights…)
In addition it fully interacts with the entertainment and navigation systems of the concept car and allows driver and co-driver to share content, e.g. the co-driver can upload his personal maps to the system with a separate device.
The UIQ 3 application uses the RSocket class to communicate with a RFCOMM port on the car. The interaction between the UIQ 3 application and the car is handled by a proprietary protocol on top of RFCOMM. Each icon in the UI represents either a sub menu or a car function. By touching an icon, the sub menu is opened or a command describing the desired car function action is sent to the car, which interprets the command and carries out the action. The proprietary protocol is also used to send information in the other direction allowing the car to deliver status updates to the UIQ 3 application. Updates are made visible in the application UI by modifying the action icons.
The 9-X BioHybrid also took things a step further by demonstrating how the phone can be seamlessly integrated with the car's onboard systems to become the main technological interaction between driver, passenger and car.
The driver with a P1 and the passenger with a W960 have both their phones synchronized with the car, allowing the passenger to send information via the car's dashboard display to the driver, for example, to transfer updated navigation route information.
The near future
Concept cars are a preview of the near future and accelerate the process of getting elements of the concept car into the real, consumer automotive market.
"Similarly to the integration concept that we worked on with Sony Ericsson, the Saab 9-X BioHybrid features additional conceptual innovations that you might see in future passenger cars. For instance switching regular rear view mirrors for high resolution cameras. Although exterior mirrors are currently required by regulations, the concept of using cameras instead of exterior mirrors on the 9-X BioHybrid means you could use a phone application to remotely check if your car is safe and not being damaged or stolen," suggests Anthony Lo.
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