We all love our cars. But we could certainly stand to have them a bit more technologically advanced than they currently are. This is because for a lot of us, cars are no longer machines that get us from one place to another. They are also entertainment centers, places to relax as we drive, and long-term investments. Some of the most interesting ways through which cars are currently updating and progressing are actually within their audio systems. With that being said, let’s explore some of the coolest technological trends in car audio systems. You might be surprised by what you find.
1. Sennheiser and Continental Speakerless System
You’re most likely familiar with your typical speaker system. It can be bulky, and it doesn’t always produce the audio quality that you would like. Many types of speakers do actually degrade fairly quickly, which is one reason why this speakerless system is new to the market. What Sennheiser and Continental did with this system was rely upon Continental’s Act2ated technology. What this technology does is excite surfaces on the car’s interior. This will produce the types of sounds that we want to hear as we drive. Sennheiser’s Ambeo Mobility finishes off the interesting piece of technology, making it something that all of us will want more of in terms of our cars. At the same time, with any speakerless system, where sound is going to be more immersive, drivers will need to be alert. Right now, there are roughly 6 million car accidents in the United States on a weekly basis. The last thing you want is to become a part of a tragic news story because you were focusing too much on your speakerless system.
2. Harman Personi-Fi
The interesting thing about the Personi-Fi system is that it is actually based within the cloud. The goal is to create a more personalized listening experience for drivers. How does this work? Well, Personi-Fi has an accompanying app, which users will rely upon to build profiles. On these profiles, they will indicate their specific preferences for each listening genre. The profile can then be uploaded to Personi-Fi, which makes it easier for the system to recommend the type of auditory experience you want in your car. Once again, there is the possibility that people will become distracted while driving with this kind of system. While you may feel as if you’ll be fine as long as you maintain a certain distance between yourself and other cars, accidents can still happen. After all, about 86% of people driving right now think that it’s acceptable to drive at least 10 miles over the speed limit. At the very minimum, you want to make sure that you aren’t paying attention to your app while you’re driving, and focus on the road as much as possible.
3. Devialet Premium 3D Sound System
Now, this particular sound system sounds rather impressive. But what does it mean, beyond the name? Essentially, this sound system is going to have a more updated, specialized signal processing technique. Furthermore, no hardware will have to be changed in order to update cars to accommodate the system. Not only does this mean that the systems can hit the market sooner rather than later; it also means that costs can potentially be kept down as cars are updated. While it can be difficult to say whether or not a system is going to overtake the vehicular world at this point, right now the signs are definitely points in the right direction for this particular system.
There are a lot of issues to pay attention to as cars’ sound systems are updated. Better sound systems are in most cases a benefit. However, they also present the opportunity for drivers to get distracted. Therefore, this tech should be treated with caution and evaluated carefully.
