New HARMAN Products Are Ready at CES
HARMAN unveiled its latest lineup of automotive products that will equip OEMs with the ability to quickly and efficiently introduce the new in-cabin features and content that consumers desire, and ultimately empower drivers and passengers with enhanced safety and entertainment experiences that will be in-market as soon as this year.
New entries in the line-up of award-winning HARMAN Ready products deliver the right information at the right time in the right place and enable fast, seamless hardware and software upgrades that prepare vehicles for today and tomorrow. In addition, HARMAN is also introducing SeatSonic, a new approach to in-car audio systems designed from the seat out that delivers exceptional audio performance while reducing system complexity and energy consumption. Each new product can work independently to deliver specific benefits or can be integrated for an even more enhanced experience. And, because they are from HARMAN, each product is designed to meet the rigorous demands and standards of the automotive environment — a value proposition that HARMAN calls ‘Consumer Experiences. Automotive Grade.’
“HARMAN Automotive products live at the intersection of consumer demand, technological advancements, and our uncompromising drive to transform the in-cabin experience in the most meaningful ways,” notes Armin Prommersberger, Senior Vice President of Automotive Product Management, HARMAN International. “Our focus on partnerships to access a broad spectrum of content and capabilities combined with delivering the right products at tech company speed enables OEMs to stay current with what their customers want — the newest experiences that make every drive safer and easier. As part of Samsung, one of the world’s most respected consumer electronics companies, we aspire to make the vehicle a seamless extension of consumers’ connected lifestyles, for as long as they choose to keep it on the road.”
At CES 2024 HARMAN is introducing more than a dozen new products that deliver rich, relevant consumer experiences across the entire vehicle ecosystem, including:
Ready Vision QVUE & AR HUD: Transforming the windshield with pillar-to-pillar projection to bridge the physical and digital worlds
Ready Vision seamlessly integrates the most important visual needs for consumers, creating a safer and more informed driving experience that helps keep the driver’s eyes and mind on the road. The new Ready Vision QVUE delivers an unprecedented experience with outstanding visual performance and unrivaled packaging. It provides the right information in the right place for minimized distraction and maximized engagement, bright illumination in all light conditions along with size and feature-set flexibility. Ready Vision QVUE concisely delivers the information most important to the driver — like mileage, speed, driving stats and alerts — on the lower portion of the windshield, allowing for easy readability without obstructing their view of the road, while also offering a large field of view for all vehicle occupants. This cost-effective HDR-capable reflective display powered by Samsung Neo QLED offers exceptional high-resolution display quality with vivid colors and brilliant optics. Through partnerships with leading third-party applications via the HARMAN Ignite Store, consumers can receive key information including low charge status alerts from ChargePoint and severe weather alerts via The Weather Channel in the QVUE display. For OEMs, QVUE offers modularity and scalability with different display sizes, from a single cluster replacement unit to full pillar-to-pillar coverage. The Ready Vision AR HUD is highly flexible, and provides superior performance combined with a unique and space-saving wedgeless design. The Ready Vision AR software is hardware and navigation agnostic, and adds 3-dimensional object detection with multi-sensor fusion for accurate positioning with low-latency. The Ready Vision augmented reality software incorporates artificial intelligence, combining depth perception with real-time visuals such as traffic, 3D navigation, and hazard alerts to increase the driver’s situational awareness. Additionally, through partnerships with ChargePoint and Mavi.io OnMyWayTM Commerce, the AR HUD provides turn-by-turn navigation to EV charging stations and order purchasing and pick-up from restaurants.
Ready Upgrade Base and Advanced: Product-grade domain controllers, software, accessories and tools to reduce time to market and cost by upgradability
Ready Upgrade can take OEMs to market in as quickly as 6 months with a product built for re-usability across vehicle lines and model years. To enable hardware and software upgrades throughout the lifecycle of the vehicle, keeping the in-cabin experience as modern as possible and elevating vehicle sustainability, HARMAN is now offering two new Ready Upgrade domain controllers with unmatched cost and time to market, future proof technology and consumer-electronics-like cycles with seamless upgradability. The new Pre-Certified IP69 Base Domain Controllers are aimed at utility and adventure vehicles, targeting a whole new set of customers. Built for rugged environments, Ready Upgrade Base offers a dynamic combined in-vehicle infotainment and cluster experience on a single display. This enables users to choose their viewing preference on the attached 8″ display. Multi-user communications, such as sharing songs and intercom conversations, are unlocked with dual Bluetooth connections between driver and passenger helmets. The new Advanced Domain Controllers are optimized for premium line vehicles and OEMs that want to power more displays and add safety features and connected services in the car. The Advanced Domain Controller leverages the new Samsung Exynos processors to deliver premium in-cabin experiences and introduces the ability to access new features and services on demand through the HARMAN Ignite Store and third-party apps. Additionally, for the Advanced Domain Controller, HARMAN is collaborating with TE Connectivity to enable easier upgradability between hardware generations, utilizing their NET-AX+ modular hybrid connector.
Ready Care Driver Activity Detection & Life Presence Detection: Safety and well-being through cognitive load detection and closed-loop interventions, using artificial intelligence and neuroscience
Ready Care is an industry-first in-cabin monitoring product that measures a driver’s visual and cognitive load in real-time to identify when distractions or potential drowsiness arise, and then offers tailored intervention strategies to enhance safety. The visual and mental cognitive-load-measurement uses neuroscience, artificial intelligence and machine learning to classify a driver’s behavior into a focused versus distracted state. HARMAN-designed sensors in Ready Care provide crucial information about the vehicle’s occupants and initiate personalized interventions for maintaining eyes, mind and safety on the road. Ready Care now offers Driver Activity Detection, identifying if a driver’s hands are on the steering wheel and detecting other activities, such as eating and smoking, in real-time to ensure the driver has control of the vehicle. An interior-mounted radar sensor provides Life and Child Presence Detection which distinguishes between adult and child occupants in the vehicle as well as occupant position — critical for proper deployment of safety features like seatbelts and airbags. HARMAN is working closely with Samsung to further develop vital- and stress-sensing technology, while also collaborating with Gentherm, the global leader in thermal management and pneumatic comfort technologies for the automotive industry, and Adient, a global leader in automotive seating, to sense driver drowsiness and vitals in driving scenarios and deliver personalized closed-loop in-cabin interventions to return drivers back to a more optimal state behind the wheel.
Ready Display: The only Automotive display solution powered by Samsung Neo QLED
With Ready Display, HARMAN continues to close the consumer experience gap between in-home and in-cabin. Ready Display provides OLED visual quality at an affordable cost, stunning visual performance powered by Samsung Neo QLED and elegant, slim packaging. Building on the successful introduction of the industry’s first automotive-grade cadmium-free Quantum Dot film and Mini LED backlight technology at CES 2023, this year we introduce new Ready Display product lines NQ3, NQ5, and NQ7 to deliver an aspirational viewing experience at accessible price points and performance levels. These range from HD to UHD displays, including the availability of curved displays, that meet consumer demands for larger in-cabin screens and OEM designers’ demand for seamless dashboard integration. The various sizes can be mixed and matched to provide a wide range of viewing areas that can span pillar-to-pillar. New software-enabled Active Privacy minimizes driver distraction by keeping the contents of the available passenger display screen for the passenger’s eyes only when needed. A new under-display driver monitoring camera system is discreetly integrated for an uninterrupted design. With new technology updates in 2024 like QSCAPE, which provides the capability to cohesively integrate HARMAN’s unique UX across multiple screens and sizes, using a single, expansive glass cover for an elegant pillar-to-pillar aesthetic, Ready Display meets the display expectations consumers are accustomed to in their homes and delivers them right into their vehicles.
Ready Connect: A portfolio of telematics control units designed to maximize upgradability, scalability and usability
HARMAN delivers a new era of 5G telematics control units (TCUs) with Ready Connect, the latest addition to its expanding portfolio of products. Ready Connect enables product upgradability, increases product scalability and transforms usability, improving in-vehicle connected mobility experiences focused on entertainment, productivity and enhanced situational awareness. It provides OEMs with a futureproof solution, via modular hardware upgradability from 4G to 5G with a highly scalable software architecture to maximize software reuse across product variants. Ready Connect comes with configurable features and built-in antennas developed in collaboration with Samsung to provide maximum connectivity performance and minimize cable and signal loss, saving additional cost and weight. In collaboration with Traffic Technology Services (TTS), the leading commercially available content aggregation prediction platform for connected safety and mobility solutions at intersections in United States and Europe, Ready Connect enables the display of real-time traffic information pertinent to a driver’s route, such as traffic light awareness, without having to rely on roadside or in-vehicle sensors.
SeatSonic: Scalable seat-based and passenger-centric audio system designed from the seat out
SeatSonic offers a new approach to traditional in-cabin audio system architecture, moving speakers from conventional locations like doors, trunks and trim panels into the seats and putting users at the center of a high-quality, personalized listening experience. SeatSonic’s user-centric approach delivers a personal sound subsystem for every passenger that is flexible, lightweight and energy-saving while freeing up space in critical spots for trim designers. The product is a combination of specifically designed near-field transducers integrated for both acoustic performance and safety in the headrest. Added to this is a proprietary bass unit in the lumbar section of the seat to provide a multi-modal experience that you both hear and feel. SeatSonic is available as a standalone product or can be combined with partner features and/or other HARMAN products to create a holistic offering, such as in SeatSonic Plus which includes WellSenseTM by Gentherm, and in SeatSonic Max which includes WellSenseTM by Gentherm, HARMAN Ready Care and a branded audio package. To bring SeatSonic to life, HARMAN is working with Adient, a global leader in automotive seating, to bring a vast array of these personalized experiences to the car.
HARMAN & Samsung Tech
HARMAN is showcasing its portfolio of new and expanded products together with its industry partners who share the commitment to bring the experienced consumers demand to the car, today.
HARMAN unveiled the expansion of its Ready product portfolio, highlighted by ongoing work with Samsung and close collaboration with industry-leading companies. This latest evolution of HARMAN’s road-ready product lineup emphasizes connectivity and cohesion by infusing new technologies with third-party solutions to create consumer experiences at automotive grade that raise the bar for what we expect from our vehicles today and tomorrow.
HARMAN and Samsung share a commitment to delivering impactful in-car experiences and leading the industry forward. This collaboration has emerged as a significant driving force within the sector, focusing on consumer needs and accelerating advancements in what the in-cabin experience can be for both drivers and passengers.
“HARMAN’s growing synergies with Samsung have been as transformative as the changes we’ve witnessed across the automotive landscape. Our unique blend of experience — Samsung’s leading consumer technology portfolio together with HARMAN’s unrivaled automotive expertise — allows us to predict change sooner, build solutions faster, and help consumers receive the same high caliber experience in their vehicles that they are accustomed to getting from their other devices,” said Christian Sobottka, President, Automotive at HARMAN International. “As the industry continues to be disrupted by technologies like advanced connectivity, artificial intelligence, and electrification, the winners will be those who can harness these forces into heightened in-cabin experiences. Together, HARMAN and Samsung will help our customers capitalize on the opportunities that come with this transformation.”
Driving the Industry Forward, Together
The active HARMAN Automotive and Samsung relationship is delivering innovative new products and experiences for the car cabin. Together, HARMAN and Samsung thoughtfully pull relevant consumer technology innovations — such as industry-leading displays powered by Samsung Neo QLED — into the automotive environment. HARMAN has also placed further focus on partnering with like-minded companies, like Gentherm and Cisco, to extend the capabilities and connectivity of its products, allowing automakers to deliver more impactful experiences to consumers.
HARMAN is also working with preeminent business consulting and services firms that understand the automotive industry’s transformation at a deep level. Together, they are helping OEMs through this paradigm shift, enabling delivery of modern features and services, while maximizing revenue streams. Focused on helping OEMs future-proof vehicle architectures and shorten the time it takes to bring new solutions to market, with the seamless updates and lifetime connectivity of HARMAN’s Ready Upgrade, better experiences become possible. OEMs gain efficiency, boost business value and can continue to delight customers.
Through this unique, blended expertise and a consistently expanding partner network, HARMAN is distinctively able to create rich, relevant products across the entire automotive ecosystem and deliver on its Consumer Experiences. Automotive Grade. value proposition.
Category-Defining Products Featuring Samsung’s Proven Technology
New additions to the Ready product portfolio combine the power of HARMAN and Samsung to enhance safety, personalization and sustainability for automakers and consumers. This includes the use of Samsung technology in HARMAN’s new Ready Connect TCU product portfolio, the Ready Vision and Ready Display products powered by Samsung Neo QLED, the Ready Upgrade Advanced with Samsung Exynos processor that powers consumer experiences, and collaboration to develop vital and stress-sensing technology for the Ready Care in-cabin monitoring product. Across the growing portfolio, HARMAN’s new products leverage Samsung’s consumer electronics innovations offering seamlessly integrated and richer in-cabin experiences.
Maximizing Industry Relationships to Create Cohesive Consumer Experiences
From integrations with popular consumer apps like ChargePoint in the HARMAN Ignite Store, to collaborations with global automotive suppliers including Gentherm and Adient that enhance the value proposition of Ready Care and SeatSonic, HARMAN is committed to working alongside leaders across the automotive and technology industries to enable road-ready products and experiences that make a meaningful impact on consumers today.
HARMAN’s ongoing approach to industry collaboration is driven by a belief that no individual entity can accelerate the consumer technology-driven transformation of the automotive industry on its own. Through collaboration across diverse areas of expertise and scaling together, new HARMAN-led collaborations across key industries are powering more content, features and increased vehicle safety and connectivity.
HARMAN Ignite Store Payments
–CES 2024 – HARMAN today introduced HARMAN Ignite Store Payments, the first payment product introduced to the HARMAN Ignite Store, along with an expanded ecosystem of HARMAN Ignite Store partners across diverse sectors. HARMAN Ignite Store products and partnerships come together to provide comprehensive in-vehicle experiences for both OEMs and consumers.
HARMAN Ignite Store Payments not only integrates with OEM wallets and supports multiple payment service providers, but also allows automakers to monetize and maintain control of commercial relationships with customers. The new product is powered by Samsung Checkout, which executes millions of transactions a day and has been tested and built to enable secure transactions at a global scale. It is the same payment system integrated into Samsung’s TVs to make online purchases and the Galaxy Store, Samsung’s official app store.
“Consumers want to bring their digital lifestyles into the vehicle with seamless integration and the HARMAN Ignite Store does just that,” said Jens Beckmann, Senior Director of HARMAN Ignite Store, HARMAN International. “It brings OEMs and Android developers together to make in-vehicle experiences easily accessible, reliable and safe, while providing OEMs and developers the opportunity to monetize these high-quality experiences throughout the lifetime of the vehicle.”
HARMAN Ignite Store’s Expanded Partner Ecosystem
Alongside HARMAN Ignite Store Payments, HARMAN is announcing several new industry collaborations across key industries to enable more content, features and increased vehicle safety and connectivity. Within the HARMAN Ignite Store, OEMs have access to a curated list of more than 70 safe and secure apps to enrich the in-cabin experience, with newly available apps including:
- ChargePoint: The ChargePoint app offers a seamless charging experience while on the road through the HARMAN Ignite Store. Users can find charging stations in the ChargePoint network, start a charging session, and pay, adding convenience to EV ownership.
- Vector Unit: The partnership between Vector Unit and HARMAN Ignite Store brings an additional avenue for infotainment — in-vehicle gaming. Users can now play popular games like Beach Buggy Racing directly in their in-vehicle displays.
- Telenav: Novo, a new driver safety app from connected car software provider Telenav is now available through the HARMAN Ignite Store. Novo monitors driving habits and encourages safe driving via safety alerts, challenges and rewards. This uniquely automotive-first use case was tailor-made for the HARMAN Ignite Store.
In addition to the new apps now available through the HARMAN Ignite Store, HARMAN will be showcasing additional app providers on the CES show floor, demonstrating the breadth of content available within the platform. They include:
- Cisco: For professionals, driving can sacrifice precious collaboration time, especially when companies abandon traditional conference lines for virtual meeting tools. Now, Cisco with the HARMAN Ignite Store aims to address the needs of hybrid workers. A new integration between the companies allows for seamless and safe collaboration using the Webex app when moving from the vehicle to and from the office, home and everywhere in between.
- Mavi: Offering dashboard commerce through the HARMAN Ignite Store, Mavi.io OnMyWay™ Commerce brings safe, easy, curated shopping to the dashboard of consumers’ connected cars creating a seamless cross-platform (home-to-car) retail experience.
- The Weather Channel: The HARMAN Ignite Store is also investing in keeping customers well-informed while on the open road. Customers can now stay updated on weather conditions along their route with hourly forecasts, alerts, and radar maps from The Weather Channel app.