Custom cars for every driver

From...

By Allison Wright

(IDG) -- High-tech gadgets that can turn your car into a vehicle James Bond or even George Jetson might envy are already starting to appear in luxury models, and more are on the way. With the use of biometrics and telematics - wireless technology for navigation, communication, entertainment and remote diagnostics - some of the vehicles that will soon become available promise to make driving easier, more secure and much more connected to the outside world than ever before.

The technology will also give new meaning to the term customized, as vehicles automatically screen those authorized to drive them and adjust themselves to drivers' needs and preferences.

You could one day be able to enter and start your car with the touch of a finger. And that same touch, with your fingerprint acting as a key, would trigger a check of the mirrors, steering wheel, radio and temperature to ensure that they're the way you like them.

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The convenience of fingerprint recognition technology comes with heightened security. Unlike personal identification numbers, passwords and keys, each person's unique fingerprints can't be duplicated, lost or forgotten.

Ready, set, go!

In a vehicle equipped with fingerprint recognition, an embedded CPU is connected to a postage-stamp-size chip that contains a fingerprint scanner placed in the vehicle.

To initiate the fingerprint recognition process, designated users must enroll in the vehicle's personalization and security system. One of the designated users is the "manager" and has the authority to enroll or delete other users.

During the 20-second enrollment process, a device scans the fingerprint and stores the data in the CPU, according to Anthony Russo, founder and distinguished staff technologist at Veridicom Inc., a biometrics company in Santa Clara, California. A mathematical template of the print that can't be reconverted into the original image is stored in the CPU.

The silicon sensors on the chip in the vehicle check the user's fingerprint against the stored template. If the print and the template don't match, the vehicle won't respond.

During the enrollment process, users will be able to identify certain individual preferences, such as seat adjustment, climate control and music selection.

"Fingerprint technology is the ultimate in personalization," says Chris Flesak, a program manager at Visteon Corp. in Dearborn, Michigan. Visteon is the chief hardware supplier for Wingcast Inc., a telematics firm recently launched by Ford Motor Co., also in Dearborn, and Qualcomm Inc. in San Diego.

With fingerprint technology, a manager can also limit other users' access to certain vehicle compartments or features. For example, if a manager doesn't want his teen-age daughter to surf the Internet while she's driving, he can deny her access to the Web appliance that will be part of the telematics package in the car.

The fingerprint scanner will be installed on the console, shift panel or instrument panel, depending on the vehicle model and manufacturer. The scanner can't yet be located on the outside of the vehicle because of factors such as weather.

Stuttgart, Germany-based DaimlerChrysler AG is one major automaker leading the way toward the use of smart cards and fingerprint recognition systems for more reliability. About the size and shape of a credit card, smart cards will have embedded fingerprint scanners that will verify the bearer's identity and send a short-range wireless signal to unlock the doors. Users will have to be close to the vehicle for the card to work. Veridicom is developing a smart card with fingerprint recognition capabilities.

Telematics systems will be able to provide roadside assistance, driving directions, traffic reports and access to e-mail and the Internet, according to Ronald Knockerad, vice president of driver information systems at Siemens Automotive Corp. in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Hands-free phone service, voice-recognition Internet access and other telematics will appear in vehicles in one to two model years, says Knockerad.

Too much information?

But some analysts say that still won't be enough to prevent information overload for drivers. Paul Green, a senior research scientist at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has proposed "workload managers" for drivers. These systems would monitor driving demands moment by moment and adjust the flow of information to the driver accordingly.

For example, e-mail messages and phone calls would be held while a driver negotiated a highway entrance during rush hour. He could later check his messages at stoplights and on stretches of straight road with little traffic.

Green points out that the sensors needed to make such a system work are already being installed in luxury cars with telematics systems.

In the past few years, new biometric recognition technologies have become cheaper and easier to use. At the same time, the wireless infrastructure necessary for telematics has been developed.

"A lot of new technology is only available in high-end vehicles initially, and then it filters down to all types of vehicles," says David Ladd, manager of marketing communications at Siemens Automotive. "That will eventually happen with this technology."

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Veridicom Inc.
Visteon Corp.
Ford Motor Co.

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