Ask anyone who has ever driven a car what their biggest annoyance is, and aside from traffic jams it will almost certainly be trying to find a car parking space. This however may well be a thing of the past very soon……and all thanks to a smartwatch.
A lot of car manufacturers have been working on projects, but BMW with the help of Continental have been the first to show their hand after debuting their device at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, Nevada this week.
Dubbed the Remote Valet Parking Assistant the aim of the watch is to allow the driver to exit the car and activate the system through the smartwatch app allowing the car to scan the available space and structures in the car park with the help of four on-board laser scanners until it finds a suitable space, and then park itself. Naturally it will then turn itself off and lock itself.
It gets better though! You will be able to summon your car back to the point where it dropped you off with just the touch of a button or a spoken word.
Amazingly, BMW claims the system does not require an expensive infrastructure to be built into car parks in order for it to work, which is sure to be an ideal selling point.
In the first few days since it’s debut showing, interest has been huge. So huge in fact that it has been suggested that should the device prove effective it will end up as much a regular fixture in vehicles as the Sat Nav is. High praise indeed.