It’s barely an exaggeration to suggest that some of today’s automobiles pack more advanced technology than it took to put astronauts on the moon. According to industry supplier siemens vdo Automotive, the total value of electronic systems in the average vehicle will escalate from around $2,250 in 2000 to $3,870 by decade’s end.

Between the latest safety and comfort and convenience items on the market, a plethora
of innovative gear is coming down the pipeline these days. Here is a quick guide to some of 2006’s bleeding-edge automotive technology, with a glance ahead at even more sophisticated systems down the road.

Improving visibility

If you can see an obstacle, you can avoid hitting it. That’s the logic behind so-called adaptive headlamps, now being offered in some high-end vehicles, which can help illuminate the road around curves at night, when a motorist’s vision is most compromised. The lamps can pivot by about 20 degrees in either direction, depending on the vehicle’s speed and steering angle, to help motorists avoid hitting parked cars, wildlife and other obstacles in their path.

At the same time, rear-view cameras offer drivers what amounts to electronic eyes on the backs of their heads. Several newer car models now mount a tiny camera in the rear bumper to display a wide-angle view of the area immediately behind it on a dashboard-mounted monitor. In addition to helping prevent a motorist from inadvertently backing over a child walking behind the vehicle or hitting an ill-placed shopping cart, this feature also makes parallel parking easier.

What’s more, technology is on the way that will allow drivers to better see what’s going on inside their vehicles, thanks to back-seat cameras. Motorists will be able to referee sibling arguments or monitor fussy infants without having to turn their heads, via a screen imbedded in the rear-view mirror.

For the directionally challenged

Automotive navigation systems have long been offered to help guide the clueless through unfamiliar territory. Now they can help drivers who know where they’re going avoid traffic jams and other delays. Currently offered in the acura rl luxury sedan and with select aftermarket navigation units, xm satellite radio’s navtraffic service provides up-to-the-minute information on traffic flow, accidents and road construction in 20 major u.S. cities, enabling drivers to choose the path of least resistance to their final destination.

Since some of us can still get lost despite having a navigation system in place, future generations of cars will include 3-d displays that offer a more detailed orientation than mere maps afford. A prototype developed by general motors uses detailed images taken by satellites of intersections and other navigational points to help motorists orient themselves.

Staying on track

Like the scarecrow in the wizard of oz, cruise control has finally gotten a brain. “Intelligent” cruise control can automatically maintain a preferred velocity and keep your car a safe distance from the traffic ahead. The driver selects a speed and an allowable interval, while a laser sensor mounted on the front bumper gauges the vehicle’s distance between it and another car in its path. If that vehicle slows down or another cuts in front within the selected range, the system reacts by decelerating—even applying the brakes if needed—to maintain the proper distance.

Select nissan and infiniti models now offer lane departure warning technology that helps keep inattentive or sleepy drivers from inadvertently veering into another line of traffic. The system looks for highway lane markings and generates an audible signal if it determines the vehicle is about to cross them. Engaging the turn signal, as the proper course of action prior to intentional lane departures, defeats the system. Going a step further, delphi corp. has demonstrated technology that uses an infrared camera to track a driver’s eye movements, then activates an alarm if the motorist appears to be distracted or dozing off.

Similarly, volvo has developed a blind spot information system that can help reduce accidents when changing lanes on the freeway. The technology employs two digital cameras, one mounted on each side-view mirror, to monitor the area alongside and to the offset rear of the car. When another vehicle abruptly enters either camera’s range, or is otherwise in the driver’s blind spot, a warning lamp flashes to indicate its presence.

Preparing for the worst

So-called anticipatory crash systems offered on a few top-priced luxury cars from acura, lexus and mercedes-benz can automatically initiate a sequence of actions when they determine a crash is imminent and unavoidable. In the milliseconds just before a collision is about to occur, such systems will automatically tighten the seat belts, prime a vehicle’s brake-assist function and even apply the brakes at full force if the driver cannot react quickly enough.

In addition, firsttechnology has developed a low-light camera for automotive use that would alter an airbag’s deployment force in a crash, based on a passenger’s size and seating position.

Keeping connected and entertained

With many cities now banning handheld cell phone use in cars, several vehicles from daimler-chrysler and other brands offer bluetooth wireless interfaces for similarly enabled phones. These enable occupants to conduct conversations both hands- and cable-free via a vehicle’s audio system. Similarly, one of the hottest accessories for many 2006 models is an adaptor that allows motorists to play their apple iPod mp3 players through their car stereos. Some allow users to choose tracks and playlists through the audio system and even show song titles and other information on the audio array’s display panel.

While vehicular dvd players have become essential accessories for those with small children, the latest systems now incorporate iPod-like hard drives for multimedia storage. Buick, chevrolet, pontiac and saturn minivans offer the phatnoise system, with a 40-gigabyte hard drive cartridge that can hold as many as 10,000 songs or 40 movies. The hard drive is removable and can be connected to a home computer for uploading files.

Coming soon is wireless distribution of music and video to a vehicle via a wi-fi network. Delphi is teaming with comcast, the nation’s largest cable provider, to develop a system that will let consumers transfer video content—either from their home entertainment system or to rent or buy when in proximity to a wireless hotspot—to a rear-seat entertainment system.

You still may not be able to drive your car to the moon, but surrounded by all this technology, you can feel like an astronaut just the same.

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jim gorzelany is a freelance writer based in chicago. Email Jim at editor@executivetravelmag.com.