Car HMI Europe 2021: Devices, Software and R&D Services for UX and V2X Strategy

Event logo (Car HMI Europe 2021, organized by we.CONECT Global Leaders GmbH/Logo: we.CONECT Global Leaders GmbH)

  The Car HMI Europe conference was organized by the German event provider we.CONECT Global Leaders GmbH and held for the 10^th time in Berlin from June 27th until 29th.

  Besides attending the conference, attendees had the possibility to visit some booths in a small exhibition hall.

  The total event is divided into three parts. 
  This is the first part, which introduces the companies and their products, that were on display at the exhibition.
  The other two parts will look at some selected presentations.
  The second part covers latest user interface technologies and the third part will highlight current holistic HMI concept approaches and give an outlook on user experience enhanced design for future autonomous driving.

Related reports:
Analysis Report: Car Navigation System (Japanese, U.S. and European Markets) (June 2021)
Analysis Report: Cockpit Modules (European Market) (June 2021)
Hannover Messe Digital Edition: Industrial Transformation (May 2021)
CES 2021: Improving user experience (February 2021)
Autonomous, connectivity and HMI activities of Western suppliers - Part 1 (October 2020)

Altia booth (Car HMI Europe 2021, organized by we.CONECT Global Leaders GmbH/pictures: MarkLines Europe GmbH)

  Altia is a user interface development software and services company that was established in 1991. The company is headquartered in Colorado, with regional offices Japan, Korea and Germany.

  They provide a graphical user interface (GUI) editor and graphics code generator which enable automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to develop and deploy custom graphics for instrument clusters, head-up displays, IVI system, radios, ADAS displays and integrated cockpit applications.

  The Altia Professional Engineering Services Team delivers global support across the GUI development lifecycle - from graphics creation and user experience research through to testing, functional safety certification and production.

  Beyond the automotive industry, Altia helps companies in the healthcare sector, consumer and white goods branches and IoT business to create high-performance, custom GUIs for their production devices.

  At the Car HMI Europe event, Altia displayed a Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RS motorcycle. The motorcycle cluster display powered is powered by Altia.

Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RS motorcycle meter display powered by Altia (Car HMI Europe 2021, organized by we.CONECT Global Leaders GmbH/pictures: MarkLines Europe GmbH/Altia)

Altia brochure (Car HMI Europe 2021, organized by we.CONECT Global Leaders GmbH/pictures: Altia)

Bittium booth (Car HMI Europe 2021, organized by we.CONECT Global Leaders GmbH/pictures: MarkLines Europe GmbH)

  The Finnish company Bittium was established in 1985. They are specialized in the development of reliable, secure communications and connectivity solutions.

  In the automotive field they deliver R&D Services for Connected Vehicles. Since February 2021, they are a member of the GENIVI Alliance.

  Besides offering V2X connectivity development and secure vehicle management & connectivity, they work together with partners like Rightware and Qt in the field of HMI and In-Vehicle-Infotainment development.

Bittium meter cluster aurora effect	Bittium HMI demo

(Car HMI Europe 2021, organized by we.CONECT Global Leaders GmbH/pictures: Bittium)

  At their booth they introduced their

• Android™ Automotive Reference Design powered by Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 670 Mobile Platform and utilizing Rightware's Kanzi® UI software for UX personalization. The reference design demonstrates e.g. HMI & IVI development, application and fleet management, security & privacy, and connectivity features. One of the unique features included in the design is Bittium's own application library in case Android Automotive is used without Google Automotive Services (GAS).
• Android™ Customization and Integration Capability offering tailored and optimized Android based solutions to customers according to the customer vision. In the reference design they have for example integrated wireless Apple CarPlay and implemented personalized vehicle experience by utilizing driver recognition and driver tracking. Driver tracking includes mood tracking and gaze direction tracking that can be used for customizing the HMI accordingly.

Bittium IVI display	Bittium OEM application management

(Car HMI Europe 2021, organized by we.CONECT Global Leaders GmbH/picture: Bittium)

Candera booth (Car HMI Europe 2021, organized by we.CONECT Global Leaders GmbH/picture: MarkLines Europe GmbH)

  Candera GmbH was founded in 2000 in Linz, Austria, and is a subsidiary of ArtSpark HD Inc. based in Tokyo, Japan. They are a leading HMI tool provider and development partner for automotive and industrial customers worldwide.

  The company supports its customers with CGI Studio, a very user-friendly, powerful and hardware independent HMI design software enabling the creation of brilliant and customizable embedded GUI solutions.

Candera digital instrument cluster and HUD on Infineon Traveo II	Candera Holistic HMI Solution

(Car HMI Europe 2021, organized by we.CONECT Global Leaders GmbH/picture: MarkLines Europe GmbH)

  In Berlin they presented for the first time the latest CGI Studio version 3.10 with the new Japanese user interface in addition to English, enhanced samples and tutorials for easy onboarding, and improved "Candera LINK" remote rendering, facilitating content sharing across process and operating system boundaries.

  This HMI design tool includes ready-to-use HMI controls, a Smart Photoshop Importer, automated workflows and integrated state machines enabling to display logics and structure of any HMI with only a few clicks.

  The open architecture of CGI Studio allows deep integration and automatization into any company's workflow.

Candera Link (Car HMI Europe 2021, organized by we.CONECT Global Leaders GmbH/pictures: Candera GmbH)

Candera CGI Studio version 3.10 Quick Start Guide in English and Japanese	Candera Scene Composer in English and Japanese

(Car HMI Europe 2021, organized by we.CONECT Global Leaders GmbH/pictures: Candera GmbH)

  Candera's activities are driven by close customer relationships and strong concentration on customers' needs.

  At this conference Candera won an award for the most innovative application of machine learning and AI automotive HMI and UI for their Smart AI-based graphics Importer. The Smart Importer enables all users, even those without programming skills, to automatically generate full functioning HMIs using their designs from any graphics software (PSD, Sketch or Axure RP) enabling faster and more efficient HMI creation.

Candera Smart Importer from Axure RP (Car HMI Europe 2021, organized by we.CONECT Global Leaders GmbH/picture: Candera GmbH)

Candera Smart Importer (Car HMI Europe 2021, organized by we.CONECT Global Leaders GmbH/picture: Candera GmbH)

eye square booth (Car HMI Europe 2021, organized by we.CONECT Global Leaders GmbH/picture: MarkLines Europe GmbH)

  eye square is an international implicit market research institute with a focus on psychological methods. The company was established in 1999. They have their headquarter in Berlin and further offices in London, Tokyo, New York and Hong Kong.

  Their clients include leading international companies in the field of consumer electronics, e-commerce, finance, automotive, pharma and media.

  They have one of the largest benchmark databases on user behaviour at three of the most important consumer touchpoints: Brand & Media Experience, User Experience and Shopper Experience.

  By means of eye tracking, eye square try to find out the thinking and decision-making processes of humans predicting their interests. They use following eye tracking technologies for their research: smartphone camera, head-mounted pupil eye tracker, webcam, desktop (special eye tracking system on monitor or computer) and virtual reality.

Kontrolka booth (Car HMI Europe 2021, organized by we.CONECT Global Leaders GmbH/picture: MarkLines Europe GmbH)

  Kontrolka is a Czech HMI Concept and Design Studio, which was founded as a start-up in Prague in 2016. They are specialized in human-machine interaction design, covering the whole process from concept to implementation: UX strategy, process definition, discover, define, design, deliver. They work together with 8 of the largest car manufacturers on 5 continents. Kontrolka's unique UX solutions can be found in more than 20 million cars on the road.

Kontrolka end-to-end concept & design studio (Car HMI Europe 2021, organized by we.CONECT Global Leaders GmbH/picture: Kontrolka)

  One example of Kontrolka's HMI design concept ideas is the smart rear window, which can communicate crucial safety messages to other traffic participants.

Car windows enhanced by Kontrolka (Car HMI Europe 2021, organized by we.CONECT Global Leaders GmbH/picture: Kontrolka)

Luxoft booth (Car HMI Europe 2021, organized by we.CONECT Global Leaders GmbH/picture: MarkLines Europe GmbH)

  Luxoft is a digital transformation services and software engineering company providing IT solutions that drive business change for customers globally. It was established in Moscow in 2000 and acquired by DXC Technology in 2019.

  DXC Luxoft Automotive supports automakers and their key partners in the field of autonomous driving, connected mobility, digital cockpit, UX and Testing and Validation.

  Tacterion is a start-up based in Munich developing smart surface solutions, The company was founded in 2015 as a spin-off of the German aerospace center.

  At the Car HMI Conference they presented their plyon sensor technology. This technology combines resistive and capacitive sensing principles, enabling proximity, touch and force measurement.

  The sensors are highly customizable in terms of size, shape and number of sensing elements, which are called taxels. Each taxel detects proximity and touch but also measures the applied force. Both the sensitivity as well as the measurement range can be tuned to serve a wide range of applications.

  Plyon is a flexible silicone-based hybrid sensor layer, which can be integrated in any surface. There are two different sensing modes in one layer: it is both capacitive and resistive. It is extremely resistant to impacts and can withstand high forces without breaking. Moreover this technology helps to save a lot of construction space in the interior. The hybrid layer has currently a thickness of 0.5mm, but Tacterion is trying to reduce this to 0.4mm or even 0.3mm in future.

  For more detailed information (pictures, technical specifications etc.), please take a look at Tacterion's website by opening following link: Tacterion

Tacterion plyon sensor technology (Car HMI Europe 2021, organized by we.CONECT Global Leaders GmbH/pictures: MarkLines Europe GmbH)

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Keywords
HMI, V2X, User Experience, Software, Connected Car, Smart Surface, Interface, GUI, Infotainment, Cockpit Module, Display, Meter, Instrument Panel, Camera, Sensor, Eye Tracking, Tactile, Autonomous, Connected

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