Recent forecasting conducted by IHS Automotive estimates a 20% or more growth in human-machine interface (HMI) systems for automotive applications over the next year. This includes technologies such as touch screens, touchpads, heads-up displays, haptic feedback, proximity sensing and gesture and voice recognition. These devices empower vehicle operators with specific, simple control over most vehicle functions.

The growth of this market will drive sales of HMI-equipped vehicles to 16.7 million in 2015, and an estimated 61 million in 2021. Currently, many vehicles utilize two or more unique HMIs in the center stack to display divergent information, such as infotainment, HVAC, camera displays, vehicle diagnostics, as well as other next-generation feedback and automation. Multi-modal HMIs that combine functions are also becoming more popular and represent a large driver for HMI platforms.

Voice recognition is poised to be a major area of growth for HMIs in the upcoming decade as well, as HMI technology proliferates to emerging markets and is adapted for multilingualism. Furthermore, voice recognition technology is more likely to be cloud-based, up to 50% of which will offer off-board speech recognition by 2021.

Automakers are integrating advanced input technologies across all brands and models to make command input easier and inherently more usable for consumers. Manufacturers must provide an attractive and functional design that satisfies a user’s accessibility needs without being a distraction. The result is an HMI supply chain that is ready to capitalize on a surge of momentum from all aspects of the automotive industry.

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