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2022 Chicago Auto Show Information Dates & Times
Feb. 12 - 20, 10am - 10pm Feb. 21, 10am - 8pm
LOCATION
South Exhibit Hall, McCormick Place 2301 S. King Dr, Chicago, Illinois, 60616
Tickets
www.chicagoautoshow.com It is suggested that attendees purchase tickets in advance. Tickets will also be available at McCormick Place's ticket booths on public show days. (Show box office closes one hour before the show closes.)
Ticket Prices
$15 for adults $10 for seniors aged 62 and older $10 for children 4-12 Free Admission for children 3 and younger when accompanied by a paying adult. Family members only.
Special Days & Special Events
Media Preview - Thursday & Friday, Feb. 10 - 11 First Look For Charity - Friday, Feb. 11 (7pm - 11pm, Black Tie) First Responders/Military Appreciation Day - Tuesday, Feb. 15 Chicago Auto Show Food Drive - Wednesday Feb. 16 - Friday, Feb. 18 boiMAG.com
Show Background First staged in 1901, the Chicago Auto Show is the largest auto show in North America and has been held more times than any other auto exposition on the continent. This year marks the 114th edition of the Chicago Auto Show. The Chicago Auto Show utilizes more than 1 million square feet in the North and South Exhibit Halls of the McCormick Place complex. McCormick Place offers a total of 2.7 million square feet of exhibit halls with an additional 700,000 square feet of meeting room availability. 10 boiMAG.com
Event Producer The Chicago Automobile Trade Association (CATA) is the nation’s oldest and largest metropolitan dealer organization. The CATA has produced the Chicago Auto Show since 1935. Exhibits All Chicago Auto Show exhibits are held in the McCormick Place complex. Exhibitions include: multiple world and North American introductions; a complete range of domestic and imported passenger cars and trucks; sport utility vehicles; and experimental or concept cars. In total, nearly 1,000 different vehicles will be on display. Additionally, attendees will also have the opportunity to see numerous accessories and auto-related exhibits, competition vehicles and project, antique and collector cars.
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TUNING IN
Interview with Norisette by Nicky Roland I hear a lot of people these days saying that music is dead, that there’s no creativity and expression, but they’re wrong. Yes, it’s harder to find the gems amongst the hoards of bedroom producers vying for attention, attention that the majors choke out with a never ending stream of overly produced, synthetic drivel devoid of soul. But…If you dig around on social media a little, there are true gems. The queer electro scene is thriving online, with a plethora of extremely talented and interconnected artists. One such artist is the incredible Norisette, arguably one of the most promising up and coming talents on the scene. With this in mind, I decided introduce you all to her, and give you some insight into her music, art, and her beautiful mind.
Q:
As a starting point could you tell our listeners a bit about where you’re from and the significance of your home town to the UK and global music scene.
A:
Thanks so much for having me, Nicky! I’m based in Stockport, Manchester, in the UK and I’m originally from Newcastle Upon Tyne. I moved to Manchester for the music scene here: it’s got such a huge reputation. For example: New Order, Joy Division, Lisa Stansfield, Oasis, The Stone Roses, The Chemical Brothers, Mr. Scruff, Cleopatra... the list goes on. There are some killer venues here as well, my favourites are Deaf Institute and Albert Hall.
Q:
You got into music at an incredibly early age (5), what piqued your interest and got started?
A:
When I was little we were lucky enough to have a piano - really I started playing piano because I copied literally everything that my big sister did and she was really good at the piano! I used to drive her crazy. My mum taught us both and I just got totally obsessed with it and ended up having piano lessons for about twelve years of my life growing up, with several different teachers. I also played the oboe for a while in an orchestra but injured my shoulder from bad technique and was heartbroken. I couldn’t play any instruments at all for a whole year. That was the point at which I started writing music to fill the void and ended up applying to uni for a music degree. Having studied music for five years I went freelance and wrote commissions for all kinds of people. I love working with dancers and opera singers especially. Then the plague struck everyone in 2020 and all my shows got cancelled. Really it was devastating, but I knew how lucky and privileged I was that this was the only disaster in my life. That was the point at which I turned to really focusing on electronic music production and songwriting to have an outlet for all these ideas. For years I had been too shy to get on stage, sending my music to other performers and channelling through them. Norrisette was born that year and she has given me so much confidence as my alter ego.
Q:
In your bio you mention influences ranging from Kate Bush to Bjork. Who would you say are your top three, what inspires you about them, and how does it impact your own work?
A:
My number one at the moment is Rina Sawayama: she is so fierce, intelligent, resilient, original, motivated by justice and A: My mum and dad played a lot of folk music funny, equality, and I have a big ol’ crush on her. Her and they loved all kinds of things like jazz, classical, church music, pop... I was fascinated by album SAWAYAMA contains the whole world the record player and used to play the same LPs and every emotion somehow. I saw her live in concert at Albert Hall in Manchester last year over and over again, putting the needle down with one of my best friends. We went totally soooo carefully and lying on the floor next to wild! She inspires me that I can succeed and not the player or dancing around the room. compromise my vision or beliefs.
Q:
You’re a classically trained pianist, and I love the fact that your mom gave you your first lessons, could you tell us a bit about your musical journey and how you got to where you are now?
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Number two is Kate Bush, she is so unafraid to just drive a message home. The art is everything. It becomes all-encompassing and she’ll do anything to make the song sound right. It’s an unearthly sound to many because
people aren’t used to this completely feminine energy: to me it sounds like home. It helps me sing how I really want to sing and in my natural voice. Hounds of Love is a masterpiece. Number three is TOKiMONSTA: her music opened my mind when I was a teenager. I had never heard anything like it before. Her production signatures are unmistakable and so original. Like with Rina and Kate Bush, I can sit and listen to an entire TOKi album and love every second. My favourite is Lune Rouge. TOKi made me believe in myself that I could be an electronic music producer.
images just come to me out of nowhere. Since I could talk I’ve been drawing. Often I got into trouble at school for drawing in lessons. I drew on the bus, on my lunch break, at home, on the Drawing used to help me cope and A: I would say that there are two Norrisettes: phone... concentrate in situations that I found difficult. a sociable and dance-obsessed electronic pop As life has got more within my control, the nice diva and a gremlin hiding in your attic. They part of being an adult, I’ve drawn less, but I’ve kind of go together, the most Norrisette track there could be is probably ‘Prometheus’ because never stopped making stuff. I guess making stuff is my identity. I don’t have any strong core it has my weird little voice and eccentric lyrics and lo-fi inspired homemade drum sounds but identity sometimes except that I make things, has a driving beat and energy and is quite light- and when I make things everything seems better. I’m self-taught in many ways at many hearted and tongue-in-cheek. skills because I have many obsessions, but I’ve privileged to have a good and varied Q: While you may be fairly new to the scene, been education and many mentors and role models you have an incredibly polished image with a and people who encouraged me. Music has touch of androgyny and ton of glamour. Are there any specific influences that helped shape been more of a formal education for me, but art your visual style? Bowie meets Gucci springs to comes out of my pores. Not necessarily good art! But it’s everywhere. If I can’t draw or paint mind, but that’s a wild guess. something I take photos of it. Photography has become my ‘grown-up drawing’ I guess. Often A: Thank you - that really means a lot to an album or song starts with something visual hear. I think that was pretty much what I was and I go from there. going for!! I also looove Annie Lennox and Grace Jones and their sharp looks, and the Q: Do you have any gigs lined up in the wild visual aesthetics of Bjork. Drag influences coming year (I know it’s challenging with the me all of the time, and I guess Norrisette is my ongoing pandemic), or online events we should drag. I can’t pick a favourite drag artist, but Tayce is one of my favourite British ones. And of be aware of? course Manchester has a fantastic drag scene, A: Look out for FLUFF which is a queer including legends such as Cheddar Gorgeous. Working with dancers has freed me up in terms electronic music night I set up with Industries Mcr. We wanted to make a space for queer of visual expression too. electronic music producers to perform and express and experiment in Manchester. Markus Q: Speaking of visual style, you have an (Industries) has Fluff #2 coming up in February artistic streak a mile wide. Did you study the and there will be many more! arts or are you self taught? Please also tell our readers a bit about your process and how you Q: If you could collaborate with any artist, incorporate your art into everything you do. from across time, who would it be and why? A: I’m really influenced by the visual arts a A: Last year I had my debut gig supporting lot, so sometimes I use clothes and makeup to express something I might have seen in a Continued >> painting or a film or an exhibition. Sometimes
Q:
How would you describe your style of music?
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TUNING IN Continued...
the wonderful Sylvette at Deaf Institute in Manchester. Honestly there is rarely a band that I feel so passionate about, everything they make sounds like a work of art. It would be amazing to work with them one day on a song but really I might be too frightened of ruining the thing I love! I’m torn when I think about working with artists I really admire because I want to be part of what they do but I also want to stay away from it and leave it in its pristine state...
Q:
Do you have any up and coming releases or collaborations that you can talk about, and if so where can we go to listen to/buy them?
A:
I am currently working on my next ‘concept EP’. It is too soon to tell you much about it, but it will have something in common with my past 4 concept EPs in that it will explore a single idea or mood and have some kind of inner journey. You can hear all of my EPs on Bandcamp (https://norrisette.bandcamp.com/) and some of them on Spotify. I love collaborating and there are two collaborations coming up soon with some music producers who I really respect and I’m so excited to see where it takes us.
Q:
On that subject, where can we find you on social media/online?
A:
My Instagram is @norrisette_official, Twitter and Facebook are @norrisette and all of my links are on my website (www.norrisette. com)
Q:
What are some of the things that motivate you the most, or that you feel especially passionate about?
A:
The feeling of putting absolutely everything, every ounce of energy and every idea and feeling from a particular time, into an EP or piece of music, is wonderful and terrifying. I love people and I’m fascinated by them, I’m motivated by love and this feeling of connection to everyone and everything. I’m passionately angry about injustice in the world and music is the way I communicate.
Q:
And last, but not least…If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
A:
If everyone could connect to art and music instead of needing stuff, I think maybe we’d be better off in terms of empathy and in terms of the environment. We’re not in competition with each other, we need to work together better to survive as a species... but it’s a huge question! So there you have it. If you’re looking for something new, something exciting, something different form the norm, be sure to check out her work and give yourself a treat. Speaking of electro, my next track, Tower of Babel comes out on Feb 11th. This is a departure from my normal Classic/Chicago House sound. While there’s still a strong House element, it pulls heavily from Classic Electro and tells the story of a young robot salvaged from a post apocalyptic world. Brought back to life, confused, and trying to make sense of what he’s hearing and seeing, he begins an emotional and spiritual journey as he tries to find acceptance. Big love to all, and special thank you to Norisette. Nicky Roland is a house music producer originally from the UK, now based in Denver, CO Find me on Spotify and on Twitter @nickyrolandmusic
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HEALTH & WELLness Solitude
by: Dr. Charla Waxman BS, MBA, EdD
Director of Business Development
The holidays are came and went and with them were probably a variety of positive and negative emotions and experiences. One of the most difficult holiday experiences leading to a maelsrom of emotions is solitude. When the weather, timing of the day the holiday falls upon, or availability of family and friends leads to being alone on a designated holiday, there will be an impact. Some will enjoy the reduction in busyness and others will be saddened by being alone and less engaged. You know who you are. Either way, let’s take a look at the concept of solitude and some solutions to the negative impact solitude can have. The effects of solitude can be very complex and part of it is, subjectively, how solitude is viewed. Some think of solitude as “me time”, others see it as a consequence of not developing relationships successfully; all a part of our selfesteem and generally how we feel about ourselves. For some, solitude is all about physical placement: “I am away from people and all alone”. For others it is about being with someone, but feeling the solitude and aloneness of minimal emotional connection: “I am with you, but I am lonely”. Complicated, right? Absolutely!
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Since we know that solitude and the feelings connected to it are subjective ( Leavitt, Butzer, Clarke and Dvorakova), then let’s look at ways to view solitude and get the most positive experience possible. Let’s look at the negative side first: Some people don’t like the idea of solitude because being alone with the notions, and thoughts in their heads is an uncomfortable idea. Or, being alone might just be too new a concept. Some of us just have no real experience in being alone and we have, quite frankly, no idea what to do when we are by ourselves. And, as with many mental health conditions, solitude has stigma all its own.
Solitude can be viewed as antisocial or social rejection. Stigma is painful and can cause avoidance of solitude and can cause the benefits of solitude to be lost in not trying to see the good side of the solitude experience. Time alone has benefits. It can open up an uninterrupted time of personal assessment and exploration. It can allow you to try something alone that might make you feel self-conscious trying in a group. Alone time in a new activity can certainly reduce the feelings of judgment you might get and the idea Continued >>
HEALTH & WELLness Solitude Continued of succeeding or not succeeding takes a back seat to just trying something new. Research tells us that alone time can boost creativity and can actually change the workings of the brain in positive ways (Bowker, Stotsky and Etkin). Times of solitude may also cause us to select more carefully who we spend time with and, as a result, the relationships we do have are deeper and more satisfying. You know yourself pretty well. Maybe some of these behavioral clues will let you know that a little solitude may be just what you are needing. If you are: • Feeling more easily frustrated and irritated • Unable to focus • Dread social engagements • Feeling bothered by noise, like in restaurants or sports or concert events • Not participating in hobbies If you are unfamiliar with solitude, but would like to try some alone-timerestoration, here are some things you may want to do to put solitude in place: • Plan the time and place. Be in control of solitude. Don’t let it control you. Work to stay uninterrupted and don’t succumb to social pressures to do stuff with other people during your planned alone-time. • Don’t put your alone-time plans on social media. Keep your special time special. The world does not need to know and then, judge what you did or where you went. If you put your alonetime information out there, watch how many people have better ideas for you. UGH!
• Use nature to help you have a good solitude experience. Try a nature preserve or just a nice neighborhood walk. These will keep you alert and your mind can flow easily with your movement. Your personal preferences should play a role in deciding how much solitude you need. There is no right or wrong. As with anything, what we should be seeking is balance and communication. Trying not to get too much time alone and trying to find valuable time with others is important. Communication with family and friends about needing time for oneself or being assertive enough to seek social engagement will be impactful on mental health and overall wellbeing. It’s all a balancing act and you can do it! boiMAG.com 21
FITNESS
Stay In Shape, Get Fit and Stay Healthy For years, restrictive diets, Instagram influencers, and misinformed trainers have conflated fitness with losing weight and achieving a certain “look.” But more recently, the conversation around fitness started to change, as more people focused on the well-being and mental health benefits of exercise instead of aesthetic goals. The pandemic propelled this shift even more because quarantine and grieving in isolation forced many to see exercise as a form of practicing selfcare.
In fact, Equinox members who use the Equinox+ app and visit the gym are already working out an additional six times per month than those using the gym alone, says Keith Irace, vice president of group fitness at Equinox. Studios like CityRow, CorePower Yoga, and Barry’s also offer both on-demand and digital live classes, and FlexIt, a virtual personal training app, connects people to trainers at big-box gyms and fitness franchises, like New York Sports Club, 24-Hour Fitness, Blink Fitness, Physique 57, solidcore, and Gold’s Gym, for oneon-one sessions.
“People are becoming much more aware of fitness being about wellness and not necessarily weight loss. People are taking a holistic approach to health care by evaluating their lifestyle, and fitness is part of that,” says Pete McCall, host of the All About Fitness Podcast and author of Ageless Intensity: High-Intensity Workouts to Slow the Aging Process.
But one aspect of virtual fitness that’s lacking, even for apps and devices with community platforms, is human interaction, and that’s exactly why people are still shuttling into gyms and fitness studios. Connecting with others, whether it’s your trainer or people in your class, during your workouts can help boost your sense of mental and emotional well-being.
According to Mindbody’s 2022 wellness trends report, which surveyed more than 16,000 Americans, exercise became an outlet for relieving stress and anxiety for many in 2021. The survey showed that 43% of respondents exercise to feel better mentally, and 37% of Americans incorporated a fitness routine to help support their mental well-being.
According to a 2017 study in the Journal of Osteopathic Medicine, medical students who engaged in group fitness classes reported feeling less stressed and having improved quality of life, including their mental, physical, and emotional health. In addition, a 2018 study in The Lancet Psychiatry found that participating in team sports, including cycling, and aerobic and gym activities, is associated with lower mental health burden.
So if you want to make 2022 the year to transform your health and fitness, the following workout trends can help you find a deeper purpose for making movement a priority in your life. Whether you want to build up some confidence, combat stress and anxiety with good ol’ endorphins, or simply make more time for yourself in the new year, these fitness trends can help you get there.
Hybrid Virtual & In-Person Training
If the past two years have taught us anything, it’s that you can essentially work out wherever you are, in or outside of the home. Hybrid training, in which you do a mix of both virtual and in-person workouts, will continue to soar in 2022.
“I’ve found that we as people crave human interaction and whenever it is safe to do so, we will seek it out. While I did transition specific aspects of my training online, I’ve continued to train clients in person outdoors” says Gideon Akande, an iFit trainer. At the same time, Akande says his clients value having the personal training experience at home with apps, like iFit, that stream workouts to your smartphone, a compatible workout device, or your TV. Working with a trainer or joining a group fitness class in person helps people stay accountable, especially for those who find it challenging to adhere to a workout routine at home. Going to the gym also gives you more access to fitness equipment and space, which not everyone may have..
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AYANAH ART EXHIBIT I Wish I Could Be You More Often
The Cleve Carney Museum of Art (CCMA), located at 425 Fawell Blvd. on the College of DuPage campus, presents: Ayanah Moor: I Wish I Could Be You More Often, on Feb. 10 through April 10, 2022. Ayanah is an artist whose work explores Blackness, gender, desire and language. I Wish I Could Be You More Often will be Moor’s first exhibition at CCMA. “Ayanah Moor is one of the most compelling painters working in Chicago at this moment,” says CCMA curator Justin Witte. “Her dynamic works stem from her immense skill and her defiant focus on highlighting love and beauty in all of their complexity. It is an honor to present these works.” For I Wish I Could Be You More Often, Moor will be exhibiting a collection of new paintings. Moor’s work will be hung against a backdrop of images, colors and patterns that reflect the overlapping histories and representations that inform her practice. The backdrop is composed of wall graphics, domestic objects and custom lighting elements. Says Moor, “The poetics of Blackness and queerness are centered in my approach to painting. I often utilize representations of Black women and femmes from advertising and portraiture to locate readings of desire, myth, love, and fear. Through a process of abstraction, I explore the legibility of Blackness. What makes Blackness renderable, and by extension, what are its boundaries? My visual field includes collage as an armature of which painting navigates,
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contrasts, or interrupts. I am intrigued by the tension between printed matter and painterly strokes, pools, and fields of color. I view Black folks’ historic and contemporary expressions of love as resistance. As an act of liberation, my artwork creates meaning from an exploration of form, color, and image.” Ayanah Moor: I Wish I Could Be You More Often may be viewed from 11am to 5pm, Wednesdays through Sundays, Feb. 10 - April 10. The exhibition may also be viewed one hour prior and during intermission for MAC touring performances in the Belushi Performance Hall. Admission is free and open to the public, however reserved timed tickets are required. For more information, visit TheCCMA.org. Related Special Events: The CCMA is presenting two related events in support of the exhibition, both of which are free and open to the public. Reservations are required. Artist Talk 1 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 17 Ayanah Moor will be giving a tour and artist talk in the museum. Reception and Artist Discussion 3-5pm, Saturday, March 5 Join Moor as we celebrate her first exhibition at the Cleve Carney Museum of Art and participate in a discussion of her work. The discussion will be led by Dr. Sampada Aranke, Assistant Professor in the Department of Art History, Theory and Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
ARTIST; Ayanah Moor
by Jack Santo
Future Car Technologies In the technology world, the latest advancement is only as good as the next thing coming down the line. The auto industry is constantly bringing us new technologies, whether it be for safety, entertainment, usefulness or simply for pure innovation. Many new car technologies are either specifically built for safety or at least have some sort of safety focus to them. Some of the latest car innovations we’ve found are some truly exciting technologies that could revolutionize not just the automotive industry but human transportation in general. So what’s in store for future cars? Well, we don’t know for sure, but based on what’s currently being tested and what’s on the road today, we have an idea of some new technology that will most likely make it into production. Some of it will help keep us safe, some will give us information like never before and some will let us kick back and just enjoy the ride.
Cars That Communicate with Each Other and the Road Car manufacturers and the U.S. government are seriously looking into and researching two technologies that would enable future cars to communicate with each other and with objects around them. Imagine approaching an intersection as another car runs a red light. You don’t see them at first, but your car gets a signal from the other car that it’s directly in your path and warns you of the potential collision, or even hits the brakes automatically to avoid an accident. A developing technology called Vehicle-to-Vehicle communication, or V2V, is being tested by automotive manufacturers like Ford as a way to help reduce the amount of accidents on the road.
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V2V works by using wireless signals to send information back and forth between cars about their location, speed and direction. The information is then communicated to the cars around it in order to provide information on how to keep the vehicles safe distances from each other. At MIT, engineers are working on V2V algorithms that calculate information from cars to determine what the best evasive measure should be if another car started coming into its own projected path. A study put out by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2010 says that V2V has the potential to reduce 79 percent of target vehicle crashes on the road. But researchers aren’t only considering V2V communication, vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, or V2I, is being tested as well. V2I would allow vehicles to communicate with things like road signs or traffic signals and provide information to the vehicle about safety issues. V2I could also request traffic information from a traffic management system and access the best possible routes. Reports by the NHTSA say that incorporating V2I into vehicles, along with V2V systems, would reduce all target vehicle crashes by 81 percent. These technologies could transform the way we drive and increase automotive safety dramatically. Good thing car companies and the government are already working to try to make this a reality. All of this communication and preemptive vehicle assistance leads us into our next future technology, so go on to the next page to find out what it is.
Self-driving Cars The idea of a self-driving car isn’t a new idea. Many TV shows and movies have had the idea and there are already cars on the road that can park themselves. But a truly self-driving car means exactly that, one that can drive itself, and they’re probably closer to being a reality than you might think. Continued >>
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TECH TRENDS CONTINUED Future Car Technologies In California and Nevada, Google engineers have already tested self-driving cars on more than 200,000 miles (321,869 kilometers) of public highways and roads. Google’s cars not only record images of the road, but their computerized maps view road signs, find alternative routes and see traffic lights before they’re even visible to a person. By using lasers, radars and cameras, the cars can analyze and process information about their surroundings faster than a human can. If self-driving cars do make it to mass production, we might have a little more time on our hands. Americans spend an average of 100 hours sitting in traffic every year. Cars that drive themselves would most likely have the option to engage in platooning, where multiple cars drive very close to each and act as one unit. Some people believe platooning would decrease highway accidents because the cars would be communicating and reacting to each other simultaneously, without the on-going distractions that drivers face. In some of Google’s tests, the cars learned the details of a road by driving on it several times, and when it was time to drive itself, it was able to identify when there were pedestrians crossing and stopped to let them pass by. Self-driving cars could make transportation safer for all of us by eliminating the cause of 95 percent of today’s accidents: human error. Although self-driving cars may seem far off, GM has already done its own testing and some people believe that you’ll see some sort of self-driving car in showrooms in the next decade.
Augmented Reality Dashboards GPS and other in-car displays are great for getting us from point A to point B, and some high-end vehicles even have displays on the windshield, but in the
near future cars will be able to identify external objects in front of the driver and display information about them on the windshield. Think of the Terminator, or many other science fiction stories, where a robot looks at a person or an object and automatically brings up information about them and can identify who or what they are. Augmented Reality dashboards, AR for short, will function in a similar way for drivers. BMW has already implemented a windshield display in some of their vehicles which displays basic information, but they’re also developing augmented reality dashboards that will be able to identify objects in front a vehicle and tell the driver how far they are away from the object. The AR display will overlay information on top of what a driver is seeing in real life. So if you’re approaching a car too quickly, a red box may appear on the car you’re approaching and arrows will appear showing you how to maneuver into the next lane before you collide with the other car. An augmented reality GPS system could highlight the actual lane you need to be in and show you where you need to turn down the road without you ever having to take your eyes off the road. BMW is also researching the use of augmented reality for automotive technicians. They produced a video where a BMW technician uses AR glasses to look at an engine, identify what parts need to be replaced and then shows step-by-step instructions on how to fix it. AR is also being researched for passengers as well. Toyota has produced working concepts of their AR system that would allow passengers to zoom in on objects outside of the car, select and identify objects, as well as view the distance of an object from the car using a touch-screen window. Continued >>
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TECH TRENDS CONTINUED Future Car Technologies Augmented reality may not be here yet, but if these car companies have their way, we’ll be seeing it in our future cars a little ways down the road.
Airbags That Help Stop Cars Ever since airbags were been added to vehicles, they’ve continued to make their way around the inside of our vehicles. We now have curtain airbags, side airbags, knee airbags, seat belts airbags and even ones that deploy under us. Maybe all of us don’t have them in our cars, but they’re on the road. And Mercedes is working on a new way to use airbags that moves them away from a passive safety measure and makes it part of an active safety system. Mercedes is experimenting with airbags that deploy from underneath the car that will help stop a vehicle before a crash. The airbags are part of the overall active safety system and deploy when sensors determine that at impact is inevitable. The bags have a friction coating that helps slow the car down and can double the stopping power of the vehicle. The bags also lift the vehicle up to eight centimeters, which counters the car’s dipping motion during hard braking, improves bumper-to-bumper contact and helps prevent passengers from sliding under seat belts during a collision. What gives this kind of airbag potential as a future technology is that it uses existing vehicle safety systems. Although Mercedes has been working on this technology for several years, it isn’t available on any production models yet and may not be seen on the road for another few years. With the current evolution of airbags and their pervasiveness within the automotive world, it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine future cars using airbags to not only protect passengers, but to actually stop cars as well.
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Energy-storing Body Panels Exxon Mobil predicts that by 2040, half of all new cars coming off the production line will be hybrids [source: Kahn]. That’s great news for the environment, but one of the problems with hybrids is that the batteries take up a lot of space and are very heavy. Even with advances in lithiumion batteries, hybrids have a significant amount of weight from their batteries. That’s where energy-storing body panels come in. In Europe, a group of nine auto manufacturers are currently researching and testing body panels that can store energy and charge faster than conventional batteries of today. The body panels being tested are made of polymer fiber and carbon resin that are strong enough to be used in vehicles and pliable enough to be molded into panels. These panels could reduce a car’s weight by up to 15 percent [source: Volvo]. The panels would capture energy produced by technologies like regenerative braking or when the car is plugged in overnight and then feed that energy back to the car when it’s needed [source: Volvo]. Not only would this help reduce the size of hybrid batteries, but the extra savings in weight would eliminate wasted energy used to move the weight from the batteries. Toyota is also looking into lightweight energy storing panels, but they’re taking it one step further and researching body panels that would actually capture solar energy and store it in a lightweight panel [source: Bey]. Whether future body panels collect energy or just store it, automotive companies are looking into new ways to make our cars more energy efficient and lightweight.
