Video screens in cars are sometimes a mixed package. For controlling mirrors, heaters, and anything else managed entirely by touch, they could end up making the formerly streamlined experience clumsy. At the other end of the spectrum, they offer prime entertainment to the passengers seated in the vehicle.
Lr43_L1000167" (CC BY-ND 2.0) by TheBetterDay
Passenger entertainment opportunities have exploded with the arrival of touch screens in cars. Backed by flexible software, they provide an immense level of potential, even if many manufacturers have yet to fully explore available options. So, how might these affect passenger enjoyment?
Utilising the Screen
If you have a touch screen, it makes sense to take advantage of the extra level of engagement this tech provides. Light interactive experiences rule supreme here, especially in easy-to-access browser games like those from online casinos. It's even plausible you could jump into big special promotions that add more to a play session. Options like Paddy Power’s £1 Million Prize Giveaway provide an example. In this case, players in the UK and Ireland are all welcome to join, with hundreds of thousands of prizes up for grabs. Of course, these can be entered on desktops and mobiles too, but they’re a fantastic fit for iGaming fans in cars with built-in browsers.
One Step Further
Most car screens today offer some kind of video connection port, usually an HDMI or a USB variant. This means you can connect a wide range of other devices that can deliver entertainment far outside of the realm of regular in-car screen firmware. Carry one of these with you, and you can provide a much broader range of software via more powerful secondary operating systems.
One new example is demonstrated in the new Raspberry Pi computer-in-keyboard, which is covered in more depth at The Verge. Backed by massively customisable Linux, hooking just a keyboard like this up to a car screen provides access to practically every form of entertainment a PC can offer, with the addition of keyboard-driven control advantages. This means an enormous range of apps without having to worry about your car’s native operating system being incompatible.
Staying Connected
One potential issue that users might face when connecting their car to the internet for entertainment is how spotting connection systems can be. Connecting to Wi-Fi in onboard systems can be tricky, with many manufacturers delivering poor-quality experiences. Fortunately, as PC-Mag explores with their breakdown, you can also purchase CarPlay dongles to aid in the connection process. These can help in bridging the gap between your phone and car, providing more reliable internet connections and more consistent entertainment.
If you're looking for a new car and you expect to carry a lot of passengers, in-car video entertainment is only growing more important. Digital screens and the software that backs them can make the difference between entertained passengers and disengaged guests. If this matters to you, be sure to research what's available beforehand, or look into the options available to modify your systems to help bring out their full potential.