tNorthville-based Mitsubishi Electric Automotive America on Monday introduced a new automotive infotainment system that allows rear-seat passengers to access content on their smart phones and tablets via two different screens situated behind the driver and front passenger seats.
t“Our new system improves the overall experience for passengers who can now make individual choices about the entertainment and data they use, including media they bring into the vehicle,” says Doug Ray, Mitsubishi Electric’s director of audio, video, and communications.
tCalled FlexConnect, the audio-video bridging system allows users to access different content on their individual screens, while also providing the capability for the screens to interact and share content. At the same time, front passengers, say parents, can maintain control of content via a detachable tablet, where they can preview and override rear seat programming. In addition, cameras installed above each rear seat screen allows for the monitoring of rear seat occupants.
t“The FlexConnect infotainment system is perfect for families because it lets kids entertain themselves in rear seats, while parents have ultimate control of the kids’ entertainment,” Ray says. “It essentially eliminates the need to bring content into the vehicle on a disk. Passengers now control the content and the way it is displayed using paired devices and streaming.”
tIn the future, FlexConnect may include navigation selection, which would allow passengers to choose a destination and send it to the vehicle’s navigation system, and occupant recognition, which would enable personalized layouts, contact lists, device defaults, and audio preferences for each user.
t“We don’t know definitively five years from now (or) 10 years from now, what that next important product is going to be, “ Ray says. “However, we can confidently say that there will be something and we need to be prepared for that. We need to be able to incorporate that next idea into our products as quickly as possible.”
