I could feel the heat all the way in Chicago.
This past January, I could not help but to be intrigued by Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2015 in Las Vegas. I had alerts and feeds set up in Twitter, Facebook, and Google to tell me all about what was happening at the show. I also perused some of my very reliable nerd and geek sites to give me highlights and some of the more obscure stories from the show.
While I was drawn to updates on the availability of the Apple Watch, ultra high definition, virtual reality, smarter homes, smarter TVs, robots, drones, and of course, selfie sticks, the high tech cars simply amazed me.
Fewer Fender Benders in Our Future?
The number of advances in the automotive field over the past seven years is very impressive, and it appears to me that the pace is increasing. Autonomous cars were the headliners of the show and that is certainly a big deal even if it will be many years before a production vehicle rolls out of the factory.
I’m amazed at how much new technology is hitting the mainstream car market and the value that will bring to the customer. Items like adaptive cruise control, automatic braking, parking assist, lane departure warning, and blind spot alerts are some very important capabilities that are now available in many new car models. These innovations are moving to become standard offerings. As we see more cars like this on the road, could we see reductions in fender benders and other incidents because of the safety features in the cars?
The other big changes are happening on the dashboard and the center console. Buttons and dials are being replaced with large touch screens and even gesture based controls. The introduction of Apple’s CarPlay and Android Auto will now integrate your smartphone into your driving experience and increase the capabilities of the infotainment system while helping to create a less distracted driving experience.
I am very excited about the advances we are seeing in the auto industry and the promise it holds for all of our customers around convenience and safety.
Kevin Rice is Allstate's director of mobile, Internet and social technology.
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