Immersive apps for automated vehicles come to some US states next year

In seven years’, time, people won’t be asking “Do you have TikTok in your car yet?”, rather: “What did you get up to in your car?” predicts TikTok’s director of product and partnerships, David Saidden.

Speaking at The Next Web conference in Amsterdam this week, TikTok’s David Saidden, Mercedes-Benz head of connected services, David Stuffer and Johannes Van Herkhuizen, general manager of automotive app store Faurecia Aptoide, convened to discuss what drivers can expect from autonomous vehicles in the coming decade.

“We are at a turning point,” stated Stuffer in his opening keynote.

In February Mercedes-Benz gave a sneak peak of its self-driving, E-series sedan – set for release next year – that will allow drivers to access apps and games including TikTok, for what the car manufacturer bills an “immersive driving experience.”

Then it was announced last week that Mercedes-Benz has beat the likes of Tesla to become the first carmaker to receive authorisation to sell or lease cars with an automated driving system to the public in California. Mercedes has received the same in the state of Nevada, and Germany, too.

“This is the beginning,” said Stuffer. “Cars will be able to drive by themselves, and so there is a lot of time that has become available to the passenger,” he added.

“So, the question is, what will the driver and the passengers do with that time?”

Provided the US government doesn’t implement an outright ban of the Chinese social media app – as it and other territories have been threatening to do –  Saidden predicts users to not only consume TikToks in the coming years but also create content and live stream from their vehicles by using the car’s selfie camera as well.

“It’s going to be a living room on wheels,” enthused Herkhuizen.

Drivers and passengers will be able to also play games such as Angry Birds and play music and videos in a more immersive way.

In the future, the panellists envision, and have seen demos, of full windscreens and side windows being turned into visual screens to watch and play on, too.

Plus, Mercedes-Benz has also partnered with video-calling app Zoom so that drivers can take video calls from their cars as well.

On safety, Stuffer said that Mercedes-Benz is working on keeping driver distraction at a minimum: “The safety of the passengers and the driver is number one. So, you’re not allowed to use all the functionalities while driving.”