Getting Cars to Communicate
The Internet of Things has sparked a revolution of connecting objects to the internet so that they can collect data and provide information to help users make smart decisions. In 2013, the luxury automobile manufacturer Mercedes Benz became the first to introduce the concept in vehicles through car-to-car communication. Now the technology is set to hit the roads, but will it be able to keep drivers’ information safe?
Similar to the crowd-sourced navigation application Waze, Mercedes’ car-to-car communication allows drivers to alert other cars on the road of an upcoming curve or pothole This information is also saved for future drivers using the road. Mercedes vehicles exchange such information over a radio network, typically through Bluetooth connection. When a driver receives a hazard or safety warning, their location is compared to that of the hazard in order to assess the right time to warn the driver, through audio and visual means. According to some Mercedes engineers, this not only makes the ride safer, but more efficient and could even help avoid traffic jams altogether once the network has enough drivers. Mercedes has extended an opportunity to participate on the project to other car manufacturers, hoping to access more data and improve the efficiency of the network.
Notwithstanding the promises of this technology, there are worries about drivers’ privacy and access to their information over unprotected Bluetooth networks. Even today with Bluetooth-connected navigation and music systems in cars you are able to access a neighbor’s phone conversation or music playlist. If cars are able to actively communicate and share information, this may make it even more of a challenge to protect privacy on the road, and could even create the opportunity to hack and hijack cars as they are driving. Hopefully these potential threats are addressed by Mercedes and other automobile manufacturers before more of these “talkative” cars hit the road.
