Audi 2013 Annual Report Download - page 41

“ONLY THOSE WHO KNOW
THE WEAK POINTS OF A
MOBILITY SYSTEM CAN REACT
AND FILL IN THE GAPS.”
The Audi Urban Future Initiative asserts that this daily waste of
time for individual commuters could be optimized through an
intelligent relationship between the city, car and technological
innovations. For this reason, Audi is placing existing technolo-
gies within the context of the city and imagining them further
into the future. One scenario gives an impression of just how
commuting might look in the future.
Outlook. Each morning of the year 2030, Mr. Innovator’s Audi
becomes a recreational area. As soon as he gets into the family
car, the Audi scans his face to detect the current driver’s identity –
and immediately adjusts to his individual preferences. The
Ambilight turns on, his seat moves into cruise position and the
driving mode sets itself to Comfort Drive. With his fingerprint,
he starts the car moving toward downtown, and the drive pro-
ceeds smoothly. Thanks to car-to-car and car-to-city technolo-
gies, the Audi receives real-time data and compares it with the
automatically generated route. The car receives information
about its surroundings in seconds – including unplanned con-
struction sites, road damage or heavier-than-usual trac.
The customized route adjusts itself automatically. Mr. Innovator
uses the head-up display’s gesture controls to flick through
the entertainment program. He stops when he gets to the SOCCER
30 video game. With a voice command, he invites his son for a
quick soccer match ; the son promptly projects himself as a ho-
logram into the passenger seat. The Audi automatically switches
to “Piloted Driving.” Just as the game ends, it arrives at the
mobility hub, where the commuter can easily change to another
mode of transport. For the last mile of his route, Smart Assist
has reserved an e-bike for him.
Within the Boston metropolitan area, Mr. Suxxess commutes
with a hovertrain system. The high-speed suspension railway
saves him valuable time. He reaches the suspension railway line
in his Audi e-tron. The paint on his electric car contains nano
solar modules that convert sunlight into electricity and conse-
quently supply the car with additional energy. Upon arriving at
the hovertrain system, the car docks onto one of the compart-
ments of the high-speed train. In the process, the smartphone
connects with the operating system of the suspension railway
and provides information about which district the commuter
needs to reach. At the optimal moment, the individual cars dis-
connect themselves and take the commuters to their respective
destinations. During the trip Mr. Suxxess settles comfortably
into a compartment, his tablet connects itself with the screen
integrated into the seat in front of him and the hovertrain
becomes a workstation. Once the destination is reached, the
car searches for available parking spaces, while being guided
by information made available by the city’s infrastructure.
Mr. Suxxess gets out of the Audi directly in front of his oce,
and the car manages the short distance to the parking space
on its own. As soon as his e-tron comes to a stop, it feeds ex-
cess energy into Boston’s electricity supply grid.
For Ms. Fashionista, every morning means a trip from Boston’s
downtown area to Cambridge. By comparing with her personal
datebook, her Audi knows when it’s time to start in order for
her to arrive on time for the first meeting at the oce. In the
morning, the electric car drives almost silently to the front door
of her house and sends a start signal to the commuter’s smart-
phone. Because the system remembers the individual prefer-
ences of its driver, the car knows that Ms. Fashionista relies on
“Piloted Driving” mode in the morning – and that she prefers
to shop online during the drive : Personalized projections on
the facades of the surrounding buildings showing the latest
collection from her favorite designer provide her with a very
personalized driving experience – made possible by communi-
cation between the car and the city. She opens up the corre-
sponding online store with a voice command to the head-up
display. Shortly before arriving at the oce, she activates her
Audi’s read-back function and it reads aloud the latest cover
story from her favorite e-magazine – the headline : “What
seemed utopian in 2014 but is reality today.”
Eric Höweler
THINK URBAN
039