At the General Motors Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, hundreds of volunteer, real-world drivers have hopped inside a Cadillac Lyriq electric vehicle or other popular GM models and experienced all sorts of things while in the car: regular roadway driving, driving up and down hills, construction, rain, nearby traffic and other scenarios.
But while the vehicle is real, the world that the drivers are experiencing is not. Instead, they’re inside a simulator; a 360-degree, immersive environment where their every eye movement, heart stress, sweating and other reactions are measured against countless driving tests. Here, GM is testing a human driver’s response in vehicles just as much as it’s testing the vehicle tech itself.
That simulation is how GM—and other automakers—are testing future iterations of their advanced driver assistance systems. Also called ADAS, this technology so far allows for well-known vehicle features such as automatic emergency braking, blind spot warnings, lane departure warnings, lane-centering assist, surround-view cameras, driver attention monitors and many more.
These features let drivers go “hands-free” at certain times, particularly while on the highway.
Automakers anticipate that these systems will eventually grow so advanced that drivers will be allowed to safely take their hands off the wheel, and their eyes off the road. But the race is not only about the technology itself, but the payoff, which is a big one. Automakers with the best tech will get more consumers to subscribe to those capabilities, making automated driving a lucrative play for the industry.
“Going eyes off is really the turning point where consumers will be more willing to pay for this feature, because when you go eyes off, now you’re really potentially giving the driver back some time, because they don’t have to be paying attention to the road,” says Sam Abuelsamid, vice president of market research at firm Telemetry. “That’s where they see the real value proposition.”
GM says its version will be possible by 2028, when it’s launching the next Super Cruise on the Cadillac Escalade IQ luxury electric sport utility vehicle. Others are on their heels.
