A Mod Project Only Opasha and Wdimagineer Would Undertake

[MattBianco]

http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1075957

[wdimagineer]

I'm not sold on this. Sure, it's cool and all. But will it enhance safety or detract from it? I'm an IT executive by day. I bought a few dozen Lenovo X1 Carbon laptops recently with gesture controls. They didn't work all that well, weren't accurate, and at the end, just annoyed me to the point that I told my staff to remove the software from our corporate image.

I can't imagine this in a car, especially with the types of drivers I see around the Bay Area who are already distracted by way too many other things. The system will get it wrong and change the radio station or track, for example. They'll get frustrated and in an attempt to set things right will take their eyes off the road long enough to do some damage. I've never been in a crash - fortunately - but many friends have and 96%+ were due to distracted driving. My friend's brand new Cayenne was totaled a month ago by a young man in a BMW who coded video in motion in iDrive.

I think we'd be better served going in the opposite direction. Less tech. I don't need to check Facebook while driving. Give me better voice recognition that can control all major vehicle functions (audio, climate, etc.) and/or improve the displays in the cluster/HUD. Make it so that I *don't* need to look away and divert my attention from where it is needed most.

I'm more excited about the prospect of free, over-the-air navigation updates (so I no longer have to generate FSC codes and download gigs of data from sketchy sources) than I am about this.

Full Disclosure: I am an investor in/advisor to a startup that is soon selling a HUD device for any car that also features gesture controls. I'm all for the HUD aspect - not entirely supportive of the gesture controls. They work well in testing, but still strongly feel it's an unnecessary distraction.

[Baunton]

I don't get it. If you are making the gesture then its the same as hitting a button or even easier using voice control. Can't see the value add with this.

..thinking about it, would be really interesting to drive in an enabled car with our Italian and Greek cousins that tend to talk with their hands

[MattBianco]

Originally Posted by wdimagineer

I'm not sold on this. Sure, it's cool and all. But will it enhance safety or detract from it? I'm an IT executive by day......

Meant purely as a compliment. You two have undertaken some mighty complex projects.

BTW, are you selling the F15 with a your lighting and traffic assist mods? I am done for now, but those are sweet gifts for anyone who appreciates them.

[opasha]

Originally Posted by wdimagineer

I'm not sold on this. Sure, it's cool and all. But will it enhance safety or detract from it? I'm an IT executive by day. I bought a few dozen Lenovo X1 Carbon laptops recently with gesture controls. They didn't work all that well, weren't accurate, and at the end, just annoyed me to the point that I told my staff to remove the software from our corporate image.

I can't imagine this in a car, especially with the types of drivers I see around the Bay Area who are already distracted by way too many other things. The system will get it wrong and change the radio station or track, for example. They'll get frustrated and in an attempt to set things right will take their eyes off the road long enough to do some damage. I've never been in a crash - fortunately - but many friends have and 96%+ were due to distracted driving. My friend's brand new Cayenne was totaled a month ago by a young man in a BMW who coded video in motion in iDrive.

I think we'd be better served going in the opposite direction. Less tech. I don't need to check Facebook while driving. Give me better voice recognition that can control all major vehicle functions (audio, climate, etc.) and/or improve the displays in the cluster/HUD. Make it so that I *don't* need to look away and divert my attention from where it is needed most.

I'm more excited about the prospect of free, over-the-air navigation updates (so I no longer have to generate FSC codes and download gigs of data from sketchy sources) than I am about this.

Full Disclosure: I am an investor in/advisor to a startup that is soon selling a HUD device for any car that also features gesture controls. I'm all for the HUD aspect - not entirely supportive of the gesture controls. They work well in testing, but still strongly feel it's an unnecessary distraction.

I agree with you completely. It's way too early/gimmicky to be useful; it will definitely be distracting especially for those inexperienced with such technology. I just got the HDLink/APCast system that gatordent retrofitted, and I find it will be far more useful/easier/more intuitive to use than this gesture system. I don't even use the bluetooth that often because I have a smartwatch for all of my texts, emails, phone calls, etc to notify me of something important so I'm not reading/pulling out my phone - it makes me less distracted from the road. Like you, I'm big on technology, and it's the reason I got involved in coding in the first place. I actually read about and know of the HUD system you are referring to a while back and think it's going to be a very interesting/great way for many car owners to have an HUD system with a bit more features than other OEM HUD systems. It was an early kickstarter project if I remember correctly. I haven't checked up on it for a while though. I hope it's coming along and soon to be released. I might look into since I don't have HUD in my F15 and have no plans of retrofitting it. Plus, this will be a far more cheaper option.

Originally Posted by Baunton

I don't get it. If you are making the gesture then its the same as hitting a button or even easier using voice control. Can't see the value add with this.

..thinking about it, would be really interesting to drive in an enabled car with our Italian and Greek cousins that tend to talk with their hands

I agree. I can see a parent lecturing their child to behave, and a phone call from a boss/co-worker/friend comes in and you hear things you normally wouldn't hear - the reverse equivalent of a butt dial .

Originally Posted by MattBianco

Meant purely as a compliment. You two have undertaken some mighty complex projects.

BTW, are you selling the F15 with a your lighting and traffic assist mods? I am done for now, but those are sweet gifts for anyone who appreciates them.

Thanks for thinking of us with modifications of the future . I knew your intention, and wdimagineer was just stating the practicality of it, which I agree with 100%.

[wdimagineer]

Originally Posted by MattBianco

Meant purely as a compliment. You two have undertaken some mighty complex projects.

BTW, are you selling the F15 with a your lighting and traffic assist mods? I am done for now, but those are sweet gifts for anyone who appreciates them.

Thank you for the compliment. I knew the spirit in which you posted. You never know. But frankly just growing frustrated with the gimmicks that automakers come up with - even BMW.

I'm removing the Euro modifications from the vehicle prior to sale. They are not legal here and not covered by warranty. I don't want to pass that burden on to the future owner. The truck was just returned to me from Sonnen for oil service. Software updates were performed and required 30 minutes of coding to have properly functioning tail lights.

The tail lights and headlights will make a reappearance on my X5 M. Traffic Jam Assist won't be compatible. I'll be putting the steering wheel and modules up for sale separately along with free remote coding for whoever purchases it.

[kip1]

Touchscreen is very good, and I have liked it in all my cars, however, in the X5 I think it is too far from the driver.

[Barbja]

I've found touchscreen infotainment systems in cars difficult to use (with Porche's being way up at the top of the stupidness pile).

Personally, I'd like that $$ spent on something fun like different voices. Sean Connery or Yoda perhaps? Instead of "Turn right on Elm Street" you get "Elm Street you shall turn right on". Or 'wife mode' (ok, spouse). Instead of "Make a U-Turn (when safe?)" you get "I said turn here! Now you have to turn around."

[Armen383]

Originally Posted by wdimagineer

I think we'd be better served going in the opposite direction. Less tech. I don't need to check Facebook while driving. Give me better voice recognition that can control all major vehicle functions (audio, climate, etc.) and/or improve the displays in the cluster/HUD. Make it so that I *don't* need to look away and divert my attention from where it is needed most.

Amen to that. Unfortunately this is not going to happen and we're going to have more and more tech while cars will lack on the important stuff.

P.S. I wonder who thought having social media services (which IMO are a plague of our century) in a car is a good idea anyway... WHY?! No, seriously, WHY?!

[hyde]

Not impressed... until they create a technology to embed display into the windshield (not a reflector HUD gimmick) and turn the whole windshield into a video screen when parked so we can watch IMAX in our driver seat... (although just as useless as gesture controls, it's much cooler) It would be cool to plug in PS5 (I guess it will be 5 by then) and use our vehicle as gaming controls with whole windshield as the screen, then it would be something amazing.

[Barbja]

Originally Posted by hyde

Not impressed... until they create a technology to embed display into the windshield (not a reflector HUD gimmick) and turn the whole windshield into a video screen when parked so we can watch IMAX in our driver seat... (although just as useless as gesture controls, it's much cooler) It would be cool to plug in PS5 (I guess it will be 5 by then) and use our vehicle as gaming controls with whole windshield as the screen, then it would be something amazing.

Oh, like all the see-through displays that CSI-kinda shows make up on TV? Yes, that would be cool.

[chrisny]

Have to agree, it's too much distraction. I'm all for anything that helps keep your eyes on the road where they belong. That's the beauty of iDrive's simplicity compared to other systems. In fact, I don't know why BMW ever added the extra buttons around it. I thought it was better on my E70 with just 2 buttons (menu and back), configure what you want the up, down, left, right, to take you to, menu for the rest.. instead of the media, radio, nav, and phone…. just more things to look down to see. Easy enough once you memorize their position and still much more streamlined than the infinite Audi/Porsche/Merc buttons, but still, I liked the E70's iDrive better in that regard.

[chrisny]

Originally Posted by hyde

Not impressed... until they create a technology to embed display into the windshield (not a reflector HUD gimmick) and turn the whole windshield into a video screen when parked so we can watch IMAX in our driver seat... (although just as useless as gesture controls, it's much cooler) It would be cool to plug in PS5 (I guess it will be 5 by then) and use our vehicle as gaming controls with whole windshield as the screen, then it would be something amazing.

But, then people would ask how to code that to work while driving too

I kid, but you know some bonehead would.

[Baunton]

Along similar lines got this from a 'connected home' friend;

http://www.bmwblog.com/2015/01/06/bm...cted-tv-future

[Armen383]

Originally Posted by Baunton

Along similar lines got this from a 'connected home' friend;

http://www.bmwblog.com/2015/01/06/bm...cted-tv-future

And then someone hacks it for lols or otherwise... No, I definitely don't like where all this "connect everything into one" is going.

[Baunton]

Originally Posted by Armen383

And then someone hacks it for lols or otherwise... No, I definitely don't like where all this "connect everything into one" is going.

Yes, it'all happen; X5's are allegedly, the car thief's' favourite car to nick in the UK so now it will be a cyber crime!