Humanity in movement
Since many centuries, man found in movement a way to live, discover the world and conquest territories. Filling life with its imagination, he invented methods, process in search of pleasure, easiness, lowering its tireness. With hope and inventions, through science enhancement and progress, he makes his own way to understand, get operational, pushing the limits away. By the way, often in despite of basic security needs in the common sense.
Man then, structures machine and mechanics, to serve him. Dealing with materials properties and combination of ambitious research and motivation, he gets all he can from innovation to master the machine.
Human, mastering the world…
First riding animals, then things and machines, human stands on skills, know-how and judgment to manage different ways of moving he has. Testing, accident experimenting, learning lessons from failures, human manages with his own appreciation good behaviours on the long roads and infrastructures available. These ones shows adaptability features, through quick evolutions and needs of powered automotive.
All along education, training and science improvement, he manages machines. He’s the master decider, collects information and drives using all the machine’s capabilities, to experience his own personal trip. Let’s think about all different ways were found in history and in his time: animals, boats, carriers, cycles, coaches then more recently planes, motorbikes and automobile and finally spatial engines. Everything is piloted, monitored, and always driven with human judgments and evaluations. Yes technology helps a lot…But even in automatic piloting (trains, planes, subways…), machine executes human binary orders, through algorithms developed by human teams, in search of best optimization.
Hybriding relation with digital revolution
Digital wave explosion changed life. Daily life. Everybody’s life. But it’s only a mean, not the end. Transformation in the deepest moments of our lives, with tech, tools, apps, datas, in every snap of life. While we want to search information, data, decision making, behave, digital set takes a major role to solve any demand. Speediness and easiness of machines will give us comfort and many “friends” to rely on. This environment modifies even the way we learn and we keep information: while search navigators can find any information in one second, why could we go on learning like in the past? What for? Machine does it tireless, faster and more reliable than us. Fortunately, we still have intuition and emotion…where machine does not. But is it enjoyable in situations that can’t stand failure or approximate judgements?
Soon, human will learn to equal machine through hybrid way: mid human, mid machine with “augmented human”, the one who will never die. With “artificial intelligence”, which is by the way, everything but not really intelligent…powerful yes, intelligent not yet. This “AI” has been built by human, coded with human minds and used to execute orders initially created by…humans
And human in this new linked ecosystem would become a failure variable, built on emotions and intuitions, probably on the way to “planned death”. And in transportation and huge world of datas and decision making, human limits will soon be dangerous: unability to get global supervision, tired and too human centred…These intuition-and-emotion centric decision system will become really dangerous for global security indeed. And the main difficulty will take place in transition: mixing human emotions with binary and digital machines decisions will soon burn the bridge!
Let’s remember that the only failures in autonomous cars until now, have been caused by human mistakes…right now. But how can we manage that transition? The only autonomous live solutions, are coached with real pilots (planes, trains, boats), and are reliable because there is a patented and experimented pilot on board, caring about the machine. The next switchover in the total digital era is then completely scary. A necessary transition phase is to be built, where automotive actors will rebuild their relation with their customer. They will reinvent the complete experience in which useful services will blossom to the next driver experience…
Customer Relationship in Automotive sector
Until now, the simple “relation” is reduced and included in the…product, the car. We chose a car, a model, a brand, under ads pressure, loyalty or technical features. The whole combination of model + brand. After the sale, there is few relation but after sale and care relation. The customer is “in” the product every day, and the sole daily use, is enough to stand him, close to the brand. With no contact and no follow up. But automotive brands must keep an eye on their customers, beyond the sale and make sure they will be loyal, in the future.
Attention is then more and more on the “driver”, who will live in many transportation experiences, through his travels, alone or with passengers. It’s what we can call “the driver experience management”, a whole and complete ecosystem, with interactive and safe relations, easing the navigation and learning. While we go to the next big picture, the autonomous cars, human must give the power to machines, trust and let them drive safely. Each experience is unique, clever and is an opportunity to offer many services on board. Time to create the interactive assistant, kind of digital steward, who can guide you, give you advise and push services through “in the distance” services. A concrete way to raise value to consumer, from automotive brands, real time.
At what price and how?
Which services for that « personal assistant »?
What we see, is that new market is exponential. “Sky is the limit” could be a relevant quote to describe what we face in terms of potential services and revenues expectations. We found some figures about it, with Oliver Wyman consultant services here. Every actor, all along the value chain may win a part, playing its own skills with a potential use.
All these services will grow perfectly, accuracy, security and easiness, for all tomorrow transportation ways. But beyond the service, connected cars will keep safe, insured and will call lots of partners in the gameplay. What we could list, at a glance could be:
• Drive assistant help
• Remote piloting, guiding
• Virtual agent (screening communications, chats, audio, twits, text…)
• Database navigation implement: weather, traffic, roads and ways, risks, easy travel guide…
• Personal assistant / connected concierge flowing services like:
. Leasure booking (restaurant, clubs, bars, hotels, fly, trips, trains, theatre, concerts,…)
. Shopping: customized shopping, private sales, gifting services…
. Babysitting, household, house caring, supermarket lists, fixing and emergency…
. Dating, meeting and matching
. Parking, shared car use, carpooling, shared travels …
• Media et broadcasting: Television, VOD, news, ebooks, music, video games, audio books…
• “Button” for:
. Insurance help and emergency
. Car fixing places and brand after sale
. Automotive experts
. Security (Police, Fire department, Medical…)
Of course, we just started a reflection that is growing day to day and no doubt it will become an awesome subject for years to come. By starting a concrete future right now, services will organize themselves through ongoing demand from customers, who will starve for practical devices, services and assistance. As soon as they will grow and offer a “easy-to-use” experience, imagination will take place and invent new services. From freemium to added packages, the story is just beginning. How do actors will react and know to catch this tremendous trend, future will tell…
We just see that this is just the beginning for an orbit-shifting story, with a rare opportunity to speed up values, market and experience so far…
