back to article At last! Something else for smartwatches to do as BMW promises park-by-wristjob demo

Auto-maker BMW has announced a park-by-wristjob demo at January 2015's CES electronics extravaganza. The company's been footling about with sensor-laden vehicles for some time and says it now has a research model i3 packing four “advanced laser scanners” that can “reliably identify impediments such as columns, for example in a …

  1. DrXym

    Well this is great

    I just love cars which are packed with proprietary technology du jour - iPod docks, streaming music services, "apps". There's nothing more comforting than knowing all that functionality will be broken and bitrotten a few years down the line.

  2. theOtherJT Silver badge

    At what point did parking become so hard that we needed our cars to do it for us?

    1. TomP

      My car is covered in dings and scrapes from parking incidents (none of which were caused by me!). I think the driving test should include more manoeuvring, certainly with a more realistic parking scenario. I suppose the primary focus of the test is to make sure you don't kill anyone though, which is perhaps reasonable!

      1. annodomini2

        5 year re-tests are needed.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        I suppose the primary focus of the test is to make sure you don't kill anyone though, which is perhaps reasonable!

        It's either that or fitting stronger screen wipers :)

    2. Michael Thibault

      Parking is like math ... it's hard! ... it's just hard!

    3. This post has been deleted by its author

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Why is this "something for smartwatches to do"?

    I see nothing about this that makes it more fit for a smartwatch than a smartphone. In order to justify a smartwatch they have to do things that a smartphone can't do or isn't as well suited for.

    - things that rely on it being against your skin

    - things that rely on it being on you at ALL times

    Otherwise a smartphone is better or at least no worse at doing the same tasks. If I had to ask for my car 350 times a day, I might want the time savings that having the capability on my wrist versus in my pocket may afford. If I do it 5 times a day, I think I'll pass on saving those 3 seconds, especially since it'll give you something to do while you're walking to the place where your car will pick you up.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Why the need for plans?

    This is as silly as Google's need for accurate maps to avoid potholes. Any autonomous system must be to a large degree indeed autonomous, as in "able to adapt to prevailing circumstances".

    The Audi that drove to Las Vegas had a map (they all need to have an idea where they're going), but for the rest it just had to adjust to other traffic to overtake and manage its speed and lane positioning. What you need in a parking garage is a way to identify what are parking spaces and a way to find the exit again afterwards - in some places I've been that's even hard for a human to work out. The rest is adapting to circumstances: avoid people and objects unless they look like Justin Bieber*, work out where to park and let's hope there is connectivity in the garage so you don't end up having to find the damn thing back amongst hundred of others.

    By the way, I couldn't actually care less what gadget triggers it. I already have a smartphone, that's enough for me.

    * I can see this giving rise to a whole lot of new "the hacked car did it" crime novels.

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