Custom Cars For Every Driver

Computerworld - High-tech gadgets that can turn your car into a vehicle James Bond or even George Jetson might envy are already starting to appear in luxury models, and more are on the way. With the use of biometrics and telematics - wireless technology for navigation, communication, entertainment and remote diagnostics - some of the vehicles that will soon become available promise to make driving easier, more secure and much more connected to the outside world than ever before.
The technology will also give new meaning to the term customized, as vehicles automatically screen those authorized to drive them and adjust themselves to drivers' needs and preferences.
You could one day be able to enter and start your car with the touch of a finger. And that same touch, with your fingerprint acting as a key, would trigger a check of the mirrors, steering wheel, radio and temperature to ensure that they're the way you like them.
The convenience of fingerprint recognition technology comes with heightened security. Unlike personal identification numbers, passwords and keys, each person's unique fingerprints can't be duplicated, lost or forgotten.
Ready, Set, Go!
In a vehicle equipped with fingerprint recognition, an embedded CPU is connected to a postage-stamp-size chip that contains a fingerprint scanner placed in the vehicle.
To initiate the fingerprint recognition process, designated users must enroll in the vehicle's personalization and security system. One of the designated users is the "manager" and has the authority to enroll or delete other users.
During the 20-second enrollment process, a device scans the fingerprint and stores the data in the CPU, according to Anthony Russo, founder and distinguished staff technologist at Veridicom Inc., a biometrics company in Santa Clara, Calif. A mathematical template of the print that can't be reconverted into the original image is stored in the CPU.
The silicon sensors on the chip in the vehicle check the user's fingerprint against the stored template. If the print and the template don't match, the vehicle won't respond.
During the enrollment process, users will be able to identify certain individual preferences, such as seat adjustment, climate control and music selection.
"Fingerprint technology is the ultimate in personalization," says Chris Flesak, a program manager at Visteon Corp. in Dearborn, Mich. Visteon is the chief hardware supplier for Wingcast Inc., a telematics firm recently launched by Ford Motor Co., also in Dearborn, and Qualcomm Inc. in San Diego.
With fingerprint technology, a manager can also limit other users' access to certain vehicle compartments or features. For example, if a manager doesn't