Android Auto and Apple CarPlay aren’t as easy to use as some car buyers may think, embedded-navigation-system suppliers say.

Passengers will want to feel safe in the autonomous vehicles of the future, and that means they will need assurance the car knows what it is doing. But too much information can be detrimental, industry insiders say.

Key takeaways from a diverse panel of experts at the recent WardsAuto User Experience Conference discussing how AI will recast our time behind the wheel.  

“Once you do that, you make meaningful and beautiful designs,” says Jeevak Badve, vice president-Strategic Growth at Sundberg-Ferar.

“If the vehicle became a channel for consumption, why shouldn’t the vehicle play a role in that transaction?” says an FCA executive.

Nearly all infotainment systems look alike, Pocketsquare Design co-founder Dave Lyon says, meaning car manufacturers are missing an opportunity to wow buyers and establish distinctive brand identities.

A panel session focused on materials at the WardsAuto User Experience Conference includes an Ohio State researcher testing fabrics embedded with sensors capable of reading a person’s vital signs and adjusting seatbelt tension automatically.

Projecting icons generated by advanced safety systems on the windshield is seen as a way to create safer driving.