With sales of smartwatches taking off, Hyundai has spotted an opportunity for drivers to connect with their cars using the wearable devices.
The automaker is showing its Blue Link smartwatch app at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES). It allows features like remote start and service information to be quickly accessed through devices like smartwatches and smartphones.
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Hyundai has partnered with Station Digital Media to develop the smartwatch app. Barry Ratzlaff, executive director, customer connect and service business development, Hyundai Motor America, said: “Connecting to your car through a smartwatch and voice recognition was previously something seen only in science fiction movies.”
To use the app, the wearer taps an icon or uses voice commands to execute remote functions. The app allows owners to remote start, lock and unlock doors as well as find their car in a crowded car park. Pushing the microphone icon on the watch activates the voice function, where the driver can execute commands such as “start my car”, “lock my car” or “find my car”.
The app has to be paired via Bluetooth to an owner’s smartphone using the mobile app. Remote functions can then be executed from almost anywhere in the US as long as the user’s smartphone has Bluetooth and a cellular or network or wifi internet connection.
Hyundai launched first generation Blue Link on the 2012 Sonata and expanded it across its range during 2013.
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