Have you ever wanted a steering wheel and a personal assistant in one package? Probably not. However, Jaguar thinks buyers in 2040 might want just that with its latest concept, dubbed “Sayer”.
Sayer is, according to Jaguar, the world’s first steering wheel with artificial intelligence. This means that it will learn functions over time to add to the already hundreds of tasks it currently can perform.
Aside from performing standard AI functions like telling you what you need to buy at the store, Sayer has another neat trick. Since it’s detachable it’s capable of moving from car to car with you. While this seems strange, Jaguar has another conceptual theory to go along with Sayer.
What its envisioned is a world of autonomous cars that are called via your steering wheel. When the car arrives at your location you simply clip in your Sayer and off you go. This allows you to change your vehicle based on needs.
For example, let’s say you wake up one day and feel the need for speed. Simply tell your Sayer to call a sports car for you and one will show up to your location. Once your drive concludes, just unplug your Sayer and the car returns to a central hub ready for the next person to call upon it.
The biggest issue with this is that you need to carry your Sayer with you at all times. This means lugging around a fairly bulky device that requires battery power to operate.
The concept itself also ignores a key piece of technology nearly everyone already owns — a smartphone. Uber and Lyft are already experimenting with autonomous cars that show up at your door with a few taps of the screen. This system will only get better as time goes on, all without the need for additional hardware too.
Finally, there’s the issue with AI. We’ve seen 2001: A Space Odyssey enough to know what happens when your mode of transportation turns on you. Before you know it, you’re cruising along and then get hit with an “I’m afraid I can’t let you do that Dave” moment.
There’s no doubt the Sayer is a beautiful piece of design. However, the concept behind its use is where it falls short. Thankfully, like most design experiments it’ll probably stay just a cool idea of what the future might be like.
We do wonder though: since the wheel is detachable, do you think we could make it work with the DriveHub?
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