Services
Training
Consulting
System Sales
Maintenance
Graphic Design
Visualization
Website_Design
Autodesk
Training
Consulting
System
Sales
Maintenance
Articles
Tech
Docs
Events
Product
Info
About
CATII
Cont@ctUS
Contact
Info.
Ken
Goldstein
-Sales
-Consulting
-Info.
About CATI
History
Something
Completely
Different!
Virtual
Hawaii
|
Technology, Travel, and You Welcome back to the High-Tech Times. One of the things I like most about Hawaii is that it’s really hard to drive very far; not only does my car benefit from low wear-&-tear, but my otherwise-perfect wife can’t get lost on an island! Not
so on the Mainland, where I’ve driven more than 1,000 miles on a very long
day, at times slightly panicked that I had no idea where the next gas station
was. But even our transportation is being revolutionized by technology.
My last trip included my highly-portable Garmin Global Positioning System
(GPS) with detailed maps downloaded from a CD-ROM showing the entire western
U.S.
So
when I needed to locate a gas pump, I could quickly search for a location
not too far down the highway, with or without a nearby restaurant. And
in a few locations, I even found robotic gas pumps. After my credit card
was authorized, the robot was able to locate my uncapped gas tank, accurately
insert the nozzle, and quickly fill my tank to the brim without spilling
a drop (more than I can do!). Shell is testing these robotic kiosks in
California and Indiana, while Mobil, Amoco, and Exxon are testing them
in 10 U.S. states and Europe.
Shell
has also developed a radio-based payment method where customers simply
wave a special card within 12 inches of the pump’s sensor; the card contains
payment information as well as data on when the car was last fueled up,
how much fuel was consumed, and your average mileage for the last dozen
periods. When the robot detects a major drop in fuel-efficiency, your receipt
politely recommends a tune-up. This system was developed in conjunction
with a submarine manufacturer and radio-frequency ID vendor, not just a
petroleum products company.
Europe
has a jump on the U.S. in automotive robotics. Not only do many countries
offer the same robotic services to pump your gas, but they also include
an Internet browser in the kiosk. This browser allows you to check for
traffic problems and to map out alternate routes to get around a gridlock.
BP Amoco in Japan is testing the use of Windows CE-based devices that offer
limited Web-surfing within a certain range of their wired gas stations;
and, yes, drivers do have to get out of their cars to surf....
Louisiana
implemented a windshield-mounted device that pays for bridge tolls (via
bank debit) without the driver stopping when they found that drivers were
causing fights with the toll-takers. Several European countries are testing
the EasyPark system developed by an Israeli high-tech firm. Drivers electronically
replenish a calculator-sized device that communicates with the parking
meters, sets the appropriate parking rate, and computes the fee until it’s
turned off when the driver returns to the vehicle. To keep the parking
meters as simple as possible, fees are automatically transferred to the
cities or municipalities when the device is reloaded at special bank kiosks.
In
Yokohama, Japan, Nissan has provided 20 hybrid electric mini-cars that
residents and tourists can use for a short run to the market, sightseeing,
office errands, or anything else that they need to do. This loaner program
is based on a European oddity where people can rent or borrow a bicycle
from one station and drop it off at another.
Nissan
designed the car based on studies showing that 90% of all passenger cars
travel less than 42 miles per day and that 90% of compact vehicles carry
one or two occupants. Drivers simply swipe a credit card, pick up the keys,
and drive around. With unmanned kiosks containing electric chargers every
few blocks, the Nissan HyperMinis have proven to be extremely popular,
and Yokohama has seen up to a 31% decrease in downtown traffic.
Ford
announced at the North American International Auto Show that it will equip
some of its cars with technology that brings the information highway right
into your dashboard as early as this fall. Their “24.7" concept car showed
what Ford calls “voice?activated telematics systems,” or technologies that
offer advanced in?vehicle communications and information services. These
services include voice-activated controls, including telephone and Internet
access, fuel gauges, and oil pressure, with the entire instrument panel
actually a high?definition projection screen.
With
a virtual dashboard, Ford claims it can position - or create - any required
gauge to fit the needs of the driver, as well as positioning each gauge
in the ideal location and configuration for each driver. Ford’s CEO recently
announced that Lincolns and some European Fords will offer voice?activated
telematic systems for the 2001 model year (but not the virtual dashboard,
quite yet). So in less than two months, you can buy a car that will automatically
notify the police when your airbags go off in an accident, call your wife
when you forget to go by the supermarket, and even monitor e-mail, schedules,
and stock quotes via the Web.
But
these technology advances do have their downside - at least for criminals.
New
tracking technology in a rental car helped catch three teenagers red?handed
as they drove a stolen car in Ontario, Canada. Despite voice warnings from
a phone installed inside the car that they were being followed electronically,
the teens figured that tossing the phone would solve their pestering problem.
Not so: the car they chose was equipped with an "invisible cop" on board
that told police exactly where to track them and the car down.
The
technology uses GPS to relay and track information about a vehicle on request.
Cars fitted with the device (that looks like a cell phone) are plugged
into a secure network that can track its location in a matter of seconds.
The coordinates are fed over the wireless phone network to the computer
in the host?monitoring center, and police can see the vehicle as an icon
moving across a digitized map.
Similar
technology in the U.S. allows “car-side” services where a central station
can monitor how much fuel a car has, which doors are unlocked, and can
even unlock doors for the driver (with the appropriate passwords, of course).
And
you thought that you could still drive away from your technology problems...!
See
you next month.
|