Intel Capital today announced it has created the Connected Car Fund, a $100 million global investment fund to help accelerate and promote innovation in the automotive industry. It is particularly focused on in-vehicle infotainment, mobile connectivity between vehicles and devices, and advanced driver assistance systems.
This includes in-vehicle applications and development tools, next-generation ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) technologies, and multimodal capabilities such as speech recognition, gesture recognition and eye tracking optimized for the connected car.
Additionally, Intel Corp. president and CEO Paul Otellini today spoke at an event in Karlsruhe, Germany to announce the opening of a new global Automotive Innovation and Product Development Center, an academic outreach program focused on IVI and telematics, and expansion of Intel Labs Experience and Interaction Research into the automotive field.
“The car is the ultimate mobile device,” said Staci Palmer, general manager of Intel’s Automotive Solutions Division. She added that within three years automobiles will be among the top three fastest-growing areas for connected devices and Internet content, representing a wide range of opportunity for innovation.
Once the car becomes connected, Intel observed, it can also communicate with the cloud, the transportation infrastructure and even other vehicles to provide additional services such as advanced driver assistance and real-time traffic information to optimize the flow of traffic.
One area of Intel’s research, for example, is how to use the Internet, sensors and context-aware technology to determine what and how information should be presented to drivers and passengers to reduce complex interactions while driving.
“Technology has become an integral component of everyday life, with consumers demanding uninterrupted access to the Internet and the constant flow of information, news, entertainment, and social media,” said Arvind Sodhani, president of Intel Capital and Intel executive vice president. “Automobiles must be able to provide these same consistent and engaging computing experiences, but in a safe manner. The Intel Capital Connected Car Fund will drive the development of technologies to enhance the in-vehicle experience of the future.”
Related links:
Intel Automotive – http://tinyurl.com/7pg5zha
Connected Car Fund press release – http://tinyurl.com/89we8k7
Karlsruhe press release – http://tinyurl.com/6npqt7e
Photo by Flickr user Images_of_Money, used under Creative Commons license
