The concept is simple. All interactions with a device should be fully accessible by all available input technologies and via all available output technologies. This main concept is driving growth for all types of automotive HMI technologies across regions, brands and vehicle segments -- through innovation and attention to usability.

IHS Automotive is forecasting growth across all HMI input and output categories, with the exception of a few technologies that may eventually become obsolete due to a competing replacement (e.g., resistive touch screens vs. capacitive touch screens).

In the IHS Automotive User Interfaces Report – 2014, several automotive HMI technologies are forecasted to have 20 percent or greater compound annual growth rates on global sales. Such technologies include touch screens, touchpads, head-up displays, haptic feedback, proximity sensing and gesture recognition.

“Most of these technologies have such significant compound annual growth rates for two reasons – first, they are relatively new to the automotive industry,” said Mark Boyadjis, senior analyst and manager, infotainment and HMI at IHS Automotive. “Also, they provide unique and valuable usability characteristics that make driving and operating infotainment systems easier on consumers.”

Touch screens are different in that they have been around for a longer period of time. In fact, some of the first navigation systems available in cars offered touch screen inputs in the 1990s. However, with the amplified growth of touch screen smartphones and tablets, IHS Automotive estimates sales of vehicles with touch screen interfaces will grow from 16.7 million units in 2015 to more than 61 million units in 2021.

Meanwhile, center stack display systems are forecasted to surpass 54 million unit sales in 2018, according to IHS, while an increasing number of vehicles will have two or more unique displays in their center stack -- for infotainment, HVAC, rear cameras, vehicle diagnostics and more.

IHS Automotive has also tracked the future growth of speech recognition, another HMI component that has been around for many years, and anticipates it will continue to grow through the end of the decade. Sales will reach all-time highs, as emerging markets like Brazil, China and Eastern Europe sell more vehicles with supporting local languages. In addition, while overall sales of vehicles with speech recognition grow, an increasing amount of the speech recognition technology in cars will be located in the cloud. IHS Automotive estimates about 50 percent of all vehicles with speech recognition globally also will offer off-board speech recognition in 2021.

Overall, IHS Automotive anticipates automotive user interfaces have considerable growth prospects as automakers work to deploy solutions to meet the expectations of their buyers, while keeping them focused on the road at the same time.

Multi-modal HMI design will continue to influence the growth of individual HMI components, giving an even greater opportunity for OEMs to differentiate their products from the competition. Meanwhile, HMI component suppliers are well positioned to profit from this trend and build on industry momentum.

Source: IHS Automotive