Jaguar Land Rover and the University of Cambridge has developed a new contactless touchscreen technology which will help keep drivers' eyes on the road and reduce the spread of bacteria and viruses in a post COVID-19 world. The patented technology, known as ‛predictive touch', uses artificial intelligence and sensors to predict a user's intended target on the touchscreen – whether that's satellite navigation, temperature controls or entertainment settings – without touching a button.
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In the ‘new normal' once lockdowns around the world are lifted, a greater emphasis will be placed on safe, clean mobility where personal space and hygiene will carry premiums. The contactless touchscreen system, developed with engineers at the University of Cambridge, is designed to help improve passenger well-being, with innovations including a Driver Condition Monitor, engine noise cancellation and cabin air ionisation with PM 2.5 filtration to capture ultrafine particles and allergens.
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The technology uses artificial intelligence to determine the item the user intends to select on the screen early in the pointing task
New technology like predictive touch is another step forward as we address the wider landscape of mobility, from how customers connect with mobility services, to the infrastructure required to enable fully integrated, autonomous vehicles. Lab-tests and on-road trials showed the predictive touch technology could reduce a driver's touchscreen interaction effort and time by up to 50 per cent, as well as limiting the spread of bacteria and viruses.
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Uneven or poor road surfaces can often cause vibrations that make it difficult to select the correct button on a touchscreen. This means drivers must take their attention away from the road, increasing the risk of an accident.
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Lab-tests and on-road trials showed the predictive touch technology could reduce a driver's touchscreen interaction effort and time by up to 50 per cent
The technology from Jaguar Land Rover uses artificial intelligence to determine the item the user intends to select on the screen early in the pointing task, speeding up the interaction. A gesture tracker uses vision-based or radio frequency-based sensors, which are increasingly common in consumer electronics, to combine contextual information such as user profile, interface design and environmental conditions with data available from other sensors, such as an eye-gaze tracker, to infer the user's intent in real time.
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This software-based solution for contactless interactions has reached high technology readiness levels and can be seamlessly integrated into existing touchscreens and interactive displays, so long as the correct sensory data is available to support the machine learning algorithm. At present, Land Rover will use the contactless screen technology in the new Defender SUV. The company also says that the technology can be fitted on to existing touchscreens in old vehicles.
