|
Issue Date: May 26, 2002
Dude, what's in your car?
DVDs. Global positioning systems. Even washing machines! Today's coolest cars are loaded with great gadgets. They're luxurious conveniences -- and dangerous distractions.
By Dennis McCafferty
The car has always served as our self-customized cocoon. We carefully select a vanity tag to brand our vehicle with a personal statement. We program radio stations knowing the choices speak not only to our tastes, but to our worldview. (How would your impression on a first date, for example, change once you discovered your escort prefers Howard Stern to NPR?) Now, consider a phenomenon that promises to take the wheeled cocoon concept to new levels: the Gadget Car.
Where we once satisfied ourselves with AM/FM and a tape deck, vehicles are now transforming into multimedia entertainment centers, complete with MP3 players and a DVD/ video game screen for every child. If soccer mom be thy calling, then how better to accommodate your time-pressed existence than to install a washer/dryer in the back of the minivan? And, thanks to voice-activated Web access, drivers can have their dashboards "speak" to them with the latest on stock prices and sports scores. One can imagine a 22nd-century anthropologist discovering old voice-Web-equipped Gadget Cars -- probably in an abandoned CarMax -- and concluding: "Alienated by suburban isolationism and long commutes alone, this society's members resorted to innovative and somewhat desperate means in hopes of finding companionship. ..."
But he'd be missing the point. The Gadget Car is really about regaining control of our lives. Many of us spend hours on the road each day. We feel that time is a commodity being stolen from us. We want to be liberated, but liberation is not forthcoming. So if we simply must be confined within a mobile cell to get from here to there and back again, we make the cell our own. And if we can use technology to eliminate the unthinkable -- cursed downtime! -- all the better.
"To have all of these things within your grasp is to control your part of the universe."
|
Take Pittsburgh executive Peter Lucas, who, in a "Back to the Future" spin, stocks his DeLorean with remote-controlled door openers, an MP3 player and Internet with wireless modem. He's installing an e-tracking system so his wife can "see" where he is at all times. When the fridge is running low, she can e-mail him a grocery list. "To many, a car is a microcosm of their space," says Lucas, CEO of MAYA Design Group, a high-tech engineering/design firm. "To have all of these things within your grasp is to control your part of the universe."
Lucas' self-designed tinkerings are a reflection of what's quickly emerging as mainstream: Within the next several years, a host of techno-treats should be readily available in most car models, experts say, as opposed to mainly the high-end minivans, SUVs or luxury cars now on the market. The multi-tasking car reflects the needs of an ultra-busy (or easily bored?) populace. To plan an evening out, the car will book your theater seats, make your dinner reservations and confirm the baby sitter's arrival. By 2005, elaborate in-vehicle entertainment systems, such as satellite radio and DVD sets embedded in dashboards and car seats, will be in 28 million cars, compared with 5.4 million today, says Forrester Research, a tech industry research firm. Information-providing gadgets -- say, navigation assistance and news/sports/weather Web information -- will be in 16.1 million cars, vs. 2.2 million today. And for those hectic days? As part of a test market design, Ford has built Windstar minivans containing Maytag refrigerators, microwaves, trash compactors and washer/dryers.
With technology constantly pushing forward, what could be next?
Not surprisingly, a backlash.
Consumer demand for the "latest and greatest" amounts to personal convenience at the expense of driver safety, many say. Cellphones are Public Enemy No. 1 in some circles, sparking a flurry of local and national efforts to get commuters to hang up while driving. According to a recent survey of 30,000 Americans by Progressive Auto Insurance, 46% of cellphoning drivers admit they've swerved into another lane while chatting, and 32% say they pay less attention to driving when getting bad news on a call.
In the next few years, a wealth of gear will further distract the well-wired driver, safety advocates fear. To respond to their concerns, the telecommunications industry is pushing hands-free models for a less hazardous commute. "If you press a button and get information read to you in a formatted way, it's less distracting than fumbling around with a PDA on the highway," says Chet Huber, president of OnStar, a leader in the in-vehicle communications field that seeks to make such extensive mobile electronics as common as the air bag. Another key point: OnStar provides important safety features, aside from the Web-based information and personal concierges. Thanks to tracking technologies, it can help get emergency officials to the scene of an accident involving a subscriber.
But safety advocates say that, although such a feature is noble, the greater concern is that drivers are likely to be engaged with the Web-linked gizmos and other entertainment-based distractions. In this case, the hands-free remedy does not address the real problem: driver inattention. The University of Iowa found that when drivers used voice-activated e-mail, braking reaction time slowed by 30%. Driving demands constant monitoring and evaluation of 3-D space and speed. "There are a lot of devices out there that are far worse than cellphones," says Barry Kantowitz, director of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. "There's a false belief that if your eyes are on the road, you're OK. The problem is, while your eyes are on the road, your mind isn't."
Critics be damned, a resourceful aftermarket industry is turning our ho-hum motoring routines into expansive multimedia experiences. It's already the rage among celebs: In Los Angeles, 310 Motoring has whipped up wheeled playhouses for NBA hoopsters, NFL players and stars like Denzel Washington, Britney Spears, Ozzy Osbourne and Brandy (see sidebar).
At Canepa Design in Santa Cruz, Calif., customers eager to live like the stars are more than willing to spend half as much on their mobile electronics as on the vehicle itself -- $20,000 worth of goodies inside a $40,000 Chevrolet Suburban. (Costs are inevitably high because of the complexity of installing and wiring the electrical items.) In Newport Beach, Calif., a business called Special Vehicle Concepts is loading up a Cadillac Escalade with no less than $110,000 of stuff: twin DVD players, a VCR, four video screens, Sony's PlayStation 2, an MP3 player, state-of-the-art surround sound ... the works. Even people with 5-year-old trucks are plunking down $2,500 for a 6-inch screen, VCR and wireless headphone set-up. "It's not esoteric anymore," says Brett Pierce, who manages the Special Vehicle Concepts electronics department. "I'll see seven or eight cars flying down the highway with these screens glowing. To them, these systems are as vital as air conditioning."
Which, the industry says, actually may be a safer situation, especially if those cars are packed with kids. Video screens eliminate distractions caused by antsy, bickering children. These gadgets will establish lasting peace, they say, not chaos: The kids will be blissfully occupied, even if one wants to watch "Shrek" on DVD while another wants to crank Limp Bizkit on the MP3 player. (And thanks to headphones, parents don't have to listen to either.)
In the case of a parent like Ginni Valley, 47, a charity fund-raiser from Newport Beach, there's considerable value in making sure her two children are content during those extended treks; to be precise, it's worth $11,000 in electronic add-ons to her $56,000 GMC Yukon XL Denali SUV. Kyle, 16, can put on the headphones and enjoy "The Matrix" without disturbing sister Kelsey, 11, who prefers "My Best Friend's Wedding". All told, the spending spree paid for the extensive installation that resulted in a DVD/CD system with 6-inch twin screens built into the headrests, wireless headphones, PlayStation 2 and an advanced satellite-linked global positioning system. "This is worth its weight in gold," Valley says. "It's not like my kids need to be stimulated all the time. We still talk and converse. But, face it, they're in the car a lot. When the trips get long, they turn it on. They do their thing, and I do mine."
Go to top
Baby, You Can Drive My Car
How much of a gadget-car enthusiast is Brandy? She's a big fan of the crew at 310 Motoring and was "wowed!" by the Los Angeles-based company's latest in techno-toy installations for her family's wheels.
For now, the singer-actress is sticking with just one video screen in her Mercedes model (not pictured here), and, of course, a great sound system to play her latest release, Full Moon. But when she really wants to geek out on car gadgets, she checks out her brother's Cadillac Escalade, which is loaded with three screens, DVD players and an assortment of PlayStation outlets.
Now that Brandy is a mom-to-be, she figures she'll opt for the same stuff before long. "I'll definitely consider the DVD players and mini-TVs," she says. "The video-game players could help the children get by on a long trip. I was always asking, as a little girl, 'Are we there yet?' That made for a long drive for my mom. If I'd had something to occupy me, it would have been easier on her."
"I'll definitely consider the DVD players and mini-TVs," says soon-to-be mom Brandy. "The video-game players could help the children get by on a long trip."
Go to top
Tomorrow's Gadgets Today
 |
Left: A Sony PlayStation 2 is tucked between the rear seats of a Ford Navigator. |
| Navigator passengers can play video games or watch DVDs on rear-facing screens. |
 |
 |
A mini-washer/dryer is built into the rear cargo area of Windstar Solutions, a Ford-Maytag concept vehicle. |
Photography by Julie Dennis Brothers for USA WEEKEND Styling by Kithe Brewster, Creative Exchange Agency. Hair by Shirlena Allen/Freelanz; makeup by Rea Ann Silva/Next.
|
