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Most car owners take for granted the convenience of power windows, air conditioning, and cruise control, but at one time these car features were cutting edge technology.
Today’s cars can be loaded with any number of options and features. Car manufacturers have employed the latest technological advances (including automobile smartphone apps) to produce some amazing features for our vehicles. Some of these options can be so advanced it’s down-right scary.
● Sensing Heart Rates
You read that and think it’s for yourself, but it’s not. Volvo’s heart-rate monitor inside it’s Personal Car Communicator monitors the car’s interior and signals if someone is inside waiting for you. Volvo advertises this as a personal safety device meant to keep owner’s from getting carjacked, but a car that knows who’s inside is maybe only one step away from becoming like Christine.
● Parking Themselves
Lexus offers a self-parking option on it’s LS sedan. Drivers line up a square in the rear view camera with the desired parking spot and the car navigates around cars to back into the space. Drivers only need release and press the brake during this process. What kind of artificial intelligence does this invention require to park cars for us? A bit spooky, don’t you think?
● Sensing Rain
Formerly only found on luxury cars, rain-sensing wipers have made their way onto more economical cars like the Toyota Avalon. Infared sensors “read” part of the windshield for moisture and dirt and turn on the wipers based on the level of moisture the driver inputs. Meant to sense rain, sometimes the wipers have minds of their own and spring to life at an unplanned time, scaring drivers out of their wits.
● Cooling Down
In many vehicles, manufacturers have placed “cool zones” where drinks and other items can be placed to be kept cool. While automakers have stated the compartments aren’t meant to be refrigerated, one would think that the cool zone would at least stay cool in the summer. Nope. Cool zones get hot when the car is off during the summer heat�resulting in sticky, exploded messes inside vehicles–scary.
● Opening Doors
Several minivans today have power-sliding doors that open and close at the push of a button. Rest assured there are safety measures in place that keep your toddlers from being smashed by a suddenly possessed door. The scariest thing about this feature is the pricing; power-sliding doors can add several hundred dollars to the price of a van and can cost just as much to repair.
● Massaging Drivers and Stabilizing Passengers
In BMW’s Seven series drivers can enjoy a benefit of massage. Only the massage feels like your brain is going to vibrate right out of your skull. Mercedes-Benz seats have a feature that enables seats to inflate to keep passengers in place as the car corners. The frightening part is the seats don’t know the difference between a winding country road and a regular city intersection resulting in over-squeezed ribs.
As technology advances, these scary features will become the norm and automakers will employ new, more terrifying technologically advanced creations to scare the bejeezus out of drivers and passengers.
