GM’S path to autonomous vehicles at RSA 2020 – Future looks good

GM’S path to autonomous vehicles at RSA 2020 – Future looks good

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Motors, Mary T. Barra, gave a keynote onstage at the Moscone Center in San Francisco at the 2020 RSA Conference addressing the future of GM’s autonomous vehicles, as well as the company’s ongoing cybersecurity challenges they will face within the rapidly growing autonomous technology.

When automobiles were produced on mass scale over a hundred years ago, Barra explained, they had re-shaped our physical environment and gave us freedom.  If you were around during the bleak thirties growing up during the Great Depression or living in the Dust Bowl, you probably wouldn’t have thought that this could be possible.

However, over the years, the automobile has also given us unintended consequences, as well: crashes, pollution, and too many hours of our lives driving our cars.  One stat that really stands out is that according to the World Health Organization, more than 1.3 million people die each year in traffic accidents across the globe, and according to the NHTSA – National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 94 percent of crashes are caused by human error.

“Advanced technologies such as all-electric autonomous vehicles are poised to alleviate these challenges.  More importantly, in contrast with today’s data age, autonomous vehicle’s (AV’s) will continue to improve people’s lives.”, Barra remarked.

As cybersecurity becomes ever so important with each and every new device, perhaps its biggest challenge is to defend cyber attacks against autonomous vehicles since people’s physical lives will continually be at stake.   We’re not just talking about the typical hacker trying to take total control of your computer at home, such as in ransomware, but a more of a terrorist hacker that not only will be compromising your data from your vehicle, but also possibly endangering all the passengers in your vehicle.

“There are virtually no industries today that are not vulnerable to cyber-attacks and the auto industry is no exception.  We are bringing to market technologies and features that are radically changing what vehicles can do for people and to improve their lives.  At the same time customers are bringing more devices into the vehicle and expecting seamless integration.  Part of our job is to ensure that our customers and their data are always safe secure and private.  Privacy is an extension of security that we fiercely protect.”  

Barra mentioned AUTO-ISAC, (Information Sharing and Analysis Center), which provides automakers collectively, including GM, to create and share best practices for the entire industry as opposed to individual automakers defending themselves alone.  The industry acts as a united front to collaborate and share best practices rather than invest cybersecurity as competitive advantage for each automaker.  

“Collectively, we incorporate strong security measures into every phase of the vehicle development process and is this group knows all too well the threat landscape is continually evolving with sophisticated attacks specifically designed to circumvent even the most robust defense systems.  Our enterprise defense strategy has to be integrated and multilayered because when a cyber criminal only needs to be affected once, we must get it right 100% of the time.”

ZERO CRASHES, ZERO EMISSIONS AND ZERO CONGESTION

By 2039, General Motors’ vision is to create a world with zero crashes, to save lives; zero emissions, so future generations can inherit a healthier planet; and zero congestion, so customers get back a precious commodity—time.  Technology is a key enabler to achieving this vision by developing connected, electrified and autonomous vehicles that will help us get there.

“It’s not a pipe dream.   We know it’s achievable.”…for our customers it means providing the safest product and the strongest cybersecurity possible will also giving them greater convenience better accessibility and all while doing it at it affordable cost.”

“Technology is a key enabler to achieving this vision by developing connected, electrified and autonomous vehicles that will help us get there….before consumers invest their trust in us, they want to be assured that AV’s will operate safely and securely every time without being hacked by outside forces.”

We have nearly 500 men and women including penetration engineers, cryptologists, mathematicians, data analysts, program managers and true hackers. We’re developing in depth defense modern touring in detection and incident response capabilities that we continually test, rework and refine”.

A critical cyber breach involving any one AV car company will be an incident that affects everyone in this space.  It could severely undermine the consumer confidence in this type of mobility and even delay the industry’s ability to share these benefits with customers and society. 

Cruise car in Hayes Valley, San Francisco. Photo courtesy of Cruise.

CRUISING ALONG

GM acquired Cruise in 2016, a self-driving car company headquartered in San Francisco, where they have been test driving through one of the most challenging cities to drive autonomously.  Since their acquisition, GM has allowed them to remain responsible for both technology and commercialization, giving Cruise independence in order to avoid the pitfalls common when technology startup is acquired by a big corporation.

In addition, GM re-engineered their vehicle development process to include cyber security from the earliest stages of vehicle design with multiple layers of protection to defend the vehicle and its systems.  GM will also introduce the first vehicle models with our new vehicle intelligent platform (VIP) this year, which supports new EV technologies, active safety systems, over the air updates, 5G networks and enhanced cyber security protections. 

Barra acknowledged the critical need for cybersecurity jobs that would need to jump from 1.8 million to 4 million by 2022, and emphasized that women and minorities continue to be severely under represented in the engineering fields. 

With GM’s outreach, they have encouraged nearly 300,000 young students and teachers across the US, to pursue such rewarding careers.  Two years ago, working with the Society of Automotive Engineers, GM introduced a new interactive student cybersecurity challenge and curriculum teaching them how digital information is transferred and protected in their every day lives as well with opportunities in STEM careers in mobility.

This is why it’s important for the automotive industry to work together to secure a strong enterprise-wide cybersecurity posture and why STEM education and careers will be even more critical in the coming years.

“If we want to cultivate young people to be part of our future we need to invest in theirs.”, Barra explained, as she came to a close with her keynote. 

“It’s a crucial time for the auto industry but it’s also an incredibly exciting time.”

Just like a futuristic vision of the 1939 World’s Fair, it will be a fascinating ride for all of us to see how the AV revolution will unfold.

TV’s rolling into the future at CES 2020

TV’s rolling into the future at CES 2020

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, a new wave of amazing generation of TV’s have been washed ashore in Las Vegas at the CES 2020 (Consumer Electronics Show) from the biggest global TV manufacturers.  Despite the fact that the majority of consumers still don’t own a 4K UHD-TV set, TV manufacturers rolled out their 8K TV’s at CES 2020.   LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sony, and even TLC had their 8K sets featured prominently on display at their booths and press conferences.

Improvements in TV display technology over the past several years have been rapidly accelerating as fast as never before.  It was only five years ago when 4K UHD-TV’s first became available to consumers.  After being accustomed to watching standard HDTV’s over the years and that fact that there was hardly any 4K content to play or stream, the mass majority of the public was reluctant to adopt to it initially.

Now more than a third of all households who own a HDTV have a 4K HDTV with the number expected to jump to 50% this year.  Initially thought of as a niche market, 4K UHD-TV’s have finally been embraced by the mainstream and is expected soon to be the new future-proof TV standard. 

Walking through the floors at CES, it doesn’t take much of a genius to realize that the next generation of TV’s that only used to be only envisioned in futuristic science fiction movies are just stunning, gorgeous, and jaw-dropping technical marvels to gaze at.

What’s truly amazing is that the manufacturers all use different display technology ranging from MicroLED, Mini-LED, QLED, and OLED.  With the latest breakthroughs in display technology demonstrated at CES 2020, the TV’s of the future were what dreams are made of that were made into reality.

However, dreams like this don’t come cheap, but if you have at least a spare $60,000 to a few hundred thousand dollars to spend, here is your dream come true.

LG ELECTRONICS – ROLLIN’ ROLLIN’ ROLLIN

Two years ago at CES, LG Electronics, the pioneer of OLED-TV introduced a prototype of the OLED W, (The “W” stands for “Wallpaper”).  It was truly an amazing and ground breaking revolutionary technology that was able to keep the pure picture quality of OLED technology with the darkest blacks and brightest whites within its micro thin bezel frame just 2.57mm thick.

LG Electronics expanded their OLED R line, which was briefly introduced last year at CES 2019.  (The “R” stands for “Rollable”).  Think of these as a portable “UHD-TV in a box” in which the screen rolls up from a long rectangular cabinet that also serves as it’s own soundbar.  When in use, the display rolls up through motorization and rolls back down when not in use.  It’s like an all-in one projector and screen all rolled into one. 

This year, they have created yet another revolutionary product which may even disrupt the need for movie projectors and movie screens in the future, just like how digital cameras eliminated the need for film cameras.

The latest version of the new LG OLED R line prototypes were shown, which is the exact reversal of the first model.  Rather than being put on a flat surface, like a table, the cabinet/soundbar could be mounted upside down from the top of the ceiling like a mounted movie screen.  If you want to watch, with a press of a button, the screen will roll down from the ceiling and roll back up when you are done.  Even with this compact feature, you still get the best OLED quality with absolutely no loss in picture quality. 

Luckily for consumers, they should be available this year.  However, the price isn’t going to be cheap. Rumors are that the TV will be starting at $60,000.00.

Samsung shows off it’s 292″ inch “Wall-TV” at CES 2020 in Las Vegas. Thanks to modular technology, you can make it as big as you want. Size does not matter. Photo by Marcus Siu.

THE 292″ WALL TV BY SAMSUNG 

For those who want to buy a TV and make it a permanent fixture in their living space,  you can buy “The Wall” TV by Samsung.  Available in sizes from 75 inches up to 292 inches, it’s the biggest TV display you can buy today, and the only set on the market to offer.  There are two versions of the wall; one at 146″ and the other at 292″.

Samsung’s microLED technology, which uses super-fine LEDs instead of OLED or traditional LED delivers many of the benefits you’ll find in OLED, including perfect blacks and eye-popping colors, but the set also boasts 1,600 nits of brightness, which is brighter than today’s OLED sets.  More importantly, unlike OLED, MicroLED promises zero burn-in issues.

ALL N ALL IT’S JUST ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL...

The 146-inch size might seem random, but it’s actually just tall enough to be able to cover most home walls from the floor to the ceiling.  Because The Wall is made up of borderless tiles, the modular design allows additional tiles to be added, making this even-bigger version of The Wall possible. Of course, if you live in a castle, you can double or triple that measurement, or just make it custom made.  Size does not matter…if you have a deep wallet.

Just like Lego blocks can be built on each other, Samsung has the capability of building it’s displays on top of each other without any bezels showing.  No borders or boundaries; just pure continuous gorgeous displays. Looking up close, I did not see any irregularities and the image looked seamless.  In fact, it can blend into your living space, such as a white wall display that looks like a white wall when not in use.

When not in use, even though it wasn’t designed to turn off, “The Wall”, can blend in as part of your living space.  You can make it part of the wall or you can change it into artwork or even a masterpiece painting by a world renowned painter, such as Renoir.  The main point is that it doesn’t look like one massive giant TV that is showing up as an eyesore that domesticated wives are accustomed to with home theater type husbands.  The wife will be much happier for it.

However, Samsung hasn’t put a price tag on this, but considering the 98″ Class Q900 QLED Smart 8K UHD TV is tagged at $59,999.99, you will probably need to take out a second mortage on your home for the 292″ model, if you have to own one.

SONY

Always thought of as the pioneering innovator of TV’s, Sony Electronics had surprised everyone at this years CES press conference by literally changing gears and announcing they are going into the electric car business by introducing their Vision S electric car prototype.

Surprisingly there was hardly any news concerning the TV side of Sony’s business except that they would be selling smaller sized OLED TV’s as little as 48″, which there is a definite need for in the marketplace.  This is good news for consumers as OLED prices have come down to earth in price, thanks to the mass adoption demand for them, as well as the growing competition with LG and other brands from China who have announced they are selling in the US in the new year.  Vizio plans to come out with their first OLED TV, as well as an OLED line from Phillips, Konka and Skyworth. 

In the meantime at their booth, Sony displayed their latest flagship X1 Master Series, featuring the 8K Sony 98″ X1 which has already been selling at retailers listing for a mere $70,000.00.  They also had the smaller 85″ line on display which retails at a more reasonable $13,000.00.

Obviously, very few of us can afford this new technology right now, but the real point here is that we have reached this point in technology and that it’s here with us to stay.

Who knows?

One day when they figure out how to mass produce these MicroLED TV’s, we all may be able to afford a Wall-TV in our home without having to take out a second mortgage.

It’s certainly in my dreams…