Thanks to on-board computers that operate everything from the stereo and navigation to the brakes and accelerator, the era of "big data" is coming to the automobile.
Like their deskbound brethren, these rolling computers produce an enormous amount of data – mostly about people's behavior behind the wheel – that can be analyzed to spot trends and fight inefficiencies. And thanks to this data, your car may soon know where you want to go before you even pull out of the driveway.
Mercedes-Benz is developing a system that over time promises to learn your schedule, tastes and even your moods. For example, it knows that you leave the house every weekday at 7:30 a.m. to take your kids to school and that you like the cabin a toasty 75 degrees. Based on GPS and satellite data, it quickly learns your preferred routes and tracks real-time traffic problems, so it can suggest detours to help you save time. The car can even tune the radio to the Disney channel until you drop off the kids, at which time it will recommend NPR. In the afternoons, it knows you usually prefer hip-hop.
"It's almost like the car's becoming aware," says M. Bart Herring, general manager for products for Mercedes-Benz. "Because it can make really smart decisions."
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