Consider this: You discover a sight to see along the way – and the car tells you more about it. You find yourself in a traffic jam – and the car recommends the ideal assistance system. This could soon be a reality. ...

Already today the developer can effortlessly control the interior lighting of her cockpit model, for example, with her right hand and a few words. With swiping motions, she navigates between streaming portals and messaging options without touching the display. In tests with test subjects, the developers have had encouraging results. 'Many need just a few minutes to get used to the operating concept,' says Astrid Kassner. 'That certainly has something to do with the fact that we are accustomed to using similar gestures with our smartphones.'

In technical terms, gesture control utilizes an infrared camera that captures the passenger's hand motions. 'The camera is continuously measuring how long the invisible infrared rays take to travel to the person's hand and back again. With that information, it is possible to determine the position and the motion of the hand,' explains Kassner.

The cars of tomorrow need not only understand our speech and gestures, but also give us the right tips at the right moment. That's what developer Stefan Henze is working on. When the car encounters heavy traffic, for example, the vehicle could recommend that the driver use Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), which regulates the distance between the vehicle and the one in front of it. 'What's makes it special is that the vehicle offers ACC precisely at the moment when the driver could actually make use of the function,' says Stefan Henze. If needed, the car can explain to the person exactly what ACC means. If the customer is interested, they can then activate the function with a voice command.