IQPC Automotive Cockpit HMI2014This week, Altia sponsored the 5th Annual Automotive Cockpit HMI2014 Conference in Frankfurt, Germany. The goal for the event was to get all the great automotive OEMs and suppliers together in one spot for deep-dive discussion about the challenges that automotive companies are facing with regard to HMI — and there are quite a few!

Not only is the automotive cockpit a battleground for brand differentiation, but the user experience has to be spot on. Not only do the various user interfaces in the car need to be functional while limiting driver distraction, but now need to interface with mobile devices and — in the not so distant future — with other vehicles!

With a guest list that includes experts from Fiat, Renault, BMW, Garmin and other leading automotive companies, we expected some truly exciting conversation — and we couldn’t wait to get a report from the road. So we asked Mike Juran, Altia’s CEO to share his impressions of the event.

Here goes…

“First, there is an energy and urgency this year — even more so than recent years.  Why?

  • The automotive industry is enjoying a worldwide economic boom — and thus we have resources and time to explore longer term research and thoughtful collaboration.
  • Google has accelerated the subject of automated driving. The OEMs were already digging in, but Google has pushed the issue faster and father than otherwise. There’s almost a frantic need to catch up and keep up.
  • Smartphone usage in the car is finally a foregone conclusion. Car companies are getting serious about ways to handle this reality — and there is a lot of debate about the best way to accommodate this new, permanent passenger in the car. Despite the depth of conversation and different viewpoints from the attendees here, no single solution is bubbling to the top.

Second, this is truly a worldwide community — with representation from China, Japan, Korea, Germany, France, UK, India and the US. It’s energizing and inspiring.

Third, to me it is fun again because the automotive industry is working together to combat a common enemy – smartphones.  No one admits it, but really it is the traditional OEMs vs. Silicon Valley – i.e. Google, Apple, Tesla.”

Based on this report, it sounds like this year’s event was a tremendous success!

For successful automotive HMI, there is no better partner than Altia. An industry standard in automotive, Altia-generated graphics code is driving some of the most innovative UIs on the road. And because Altia supports a vast array of low to high powered processors, Altia delivers first class graphics to cars at every price point.

To learn more about how Altia can help your team deliver high-end HMIs, click here.