MOAB
The relationship between humans and tech is rapidly changing. The idea of individuals owning a car for private transportation used to be novel, and in modern day what we expect from cars is changing. Cars are slowly turning into computers that do much more than just get us from point A to point B. With this project, I explored some of the possibilities of what can be done with a Jeep.
Off-Roading with Friends & Jeeps
Envisioning the future infotainment system of a Jeep that focuses on UI that conforms to the user's needs and the unique Jeep culture, in order to enhance the adventures had while driving in the wilderness... such as Moab, a common destination for Jeep drivers.
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Traveling with friends can already feel like herding cats- and there's further challenges when your friends are all driving their own separate Jeeps. Staying together can prove difficult, and this infotainment system is designed to help so you can focus on living in the moment.
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At the start of the trip when your friends all finally make it to the agreed upon meet up point, you'll want to decide who will lead the group on the off roading adventure and the platoon.
The infotainment system cannot help you put aside two competing egos who both want to lead- but once you decide that over a game of Rock Paper Scissors, the leader may start the platoon from the Home Screen and decide who gets to join them.
From there, the leader can choose if they want their platoon to be private or public. Private means that their platoon won't show up for on the screens of Jeeps they haven't sent an invite to. Public means that your platoon will be visible on the screens of other Jeeps, and it's an open invitation for other Jeeps to join your group and tag along..
Of course, before they join you would have to accept their request. And once you do, your navigation route will show up on their GPS and they can see and communicate with the other users in the platoon. You'll meet new friends, and maybe someone will gift you a rubber duck- as is tradition in Jeep culture.
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Users can create profiles to further personalize the experience. This means that the driver can save settings according to their preset preferences- which is especially useful for shared cars by more than one driver. Vehicle personalization increases convenience, comfort, and safety which becomes a shaping consumer trend, especially in cars and Jeeps are no exception. Everyone likes to customize what's theirs to put in a piece of themselves.
In these profiles, users can also list what supplies they have to communicate to other drivers in the platoon what they have and what they can contribute if need be. If someone in your group had their Jeep flip over (as one does when off roading), you can check to see if anyone brought a tow rope or anything that would be of assistance.
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Other than share supplies and a navigation route, you'll also create new shared memories together with your old friends and the potential new best friend who just tagged along in your platoon.
Share Shenanigans
If a tree falls in a forest, does it make a sound? If you did a really cool stunt driving around in your Jeep but nobody was around to witness it, did it actually happen? Pics or it didn't happen. Nobody will believe you at the bar when you're bragging about the time you sped across the canyon and almost died, but yet here you are... still alive and no pictures to prove anything.
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With this Jeep's front facing camera, you now not only have the ability to record your shenanigans, but you have the ability to share the moment with your friend who couldn't make it to come with you on this trip because it was their cat's Sweet Sixteen birthday party. You can also live stream the footage to any social media platform of your choosing, to make yourself feel less alone.
Exchange Music
One way to keep your platoon together is to share music across all Jeeps in the group. Morale will instantly be boosted once everyone feels connected knowing they're listening and singing along to the same songs, even when not physically together in the same car.
Drivers can also create and save playlists to their personal profile in their Jeeps. These playlists can also be shared and played for their friends in the platoon.
Anyone in the platoon can assume the role of DJ, all they have to do is choose to share their music to the platoon. And of course, if anyone doesn't like the music they can takeover being DJ and play their own music. Another option is to simply shut off the music in your own Jeep and be alone with your thoughts and life choices.
Communication
Traveling with your friends in separate Jeeps may make communication difficult, especially with spotty cell phone reception- which teds to be the case in the areas where it's the most fun to go off roading. But with the Citizen's Band radio built into the infotainment system, it's easier to stay in touch and keep tabs on your friends.
Citizens band radio (also known as CB radio), is a land mobile radio system, which allows short-distance person-to-many persons bidirectional voice communication among individuals.
The radio is normally in receive mode to receive transmissions of other radios on the channel. When users want to talk they press a "push to talk" button on their radio, which turns on their transmitter. Users on a channel have to take turns talking for this reason.
