Volkswagen Patents Car Control Via Eyes, What's The Story?

ID.4. (Photo: Volkswagen)

JAKARTA - German auto giant Volkswagen is reportedly making an astonishing breakthrough. When many drivers miss the return of physical buttons in increasingly rare cars, Volkswagen seems to have gone even further in removing the button. After many of their haptic control at the wheel was criticized, now the German manufacturer has patented a new technology that uses the driver's eyes to control the functions in the car.

According to a report from Motor1, quoted from Car and Driver, Monday, September 29, Volkswagen has filed and is now obtaining a patent in Germany for a system that allows drivers to only look at the functions they want to use, then confirm the interaction through a universal input device (for remote or toggle).

Imagine, if you want to turn on the air conditioner or change the radio station. Instead of pressing the button or touching the screen, the driver must take a look from the road for a moment to look at the AC or radio symbols, then press the confirmation button.

Paten ini diajukan dengan alasan untuk mengurangi distraksi. Dikutip dari dokumen paten yang ditertikan, VW berasan: "Semakin banyak fungsi/pilihan pengaturan akan mengarah pada struktur menu yang lebih dalam (softkey) atau multiplian elemen kontrol (hardkey). Pengguna semakin terlebih terlebih dari situasi lalu lintas selama pengoperasian."

However, many people think that its implementation has the potential to be worse than touchscreen or haptic control. You see, drivers are forced to deliberately turn their eyes to the windshield, radio, or sunscreen just to interact with them.

This eye control completely eliminates the driver's ability to feel and feel certain buttons or dials without the need to see, a major advantage of physical buttons in keeping focus on the road.

This technology is likened to operating augmented reality devices, such as the Apple Vision Pro, but it is not driving a two-ton car.

It should be remembered, not all patents will be changed to real products. In fact, a number of patents proposed by automotive manufacturers could be for future needs when technology is progressing.