The use of electric equipment provides a new era of "mobile private space"

The arrival of a new era of “4th Place”

Ray Oldenburg, an American sociologist, called the space outside of home and office that makes people feel comfortable physically and mentally "3rd place". Home is 1st place, office is 2nd place, and cafes, parks, etc. are 3rd place. The space when moving can be called 4th place = fourth space. Denso defines the space inside the car as 4th place (fourth space) and pursues various possibilities.

A mobile space that meets more diverse and personalized needs and provides an evolving mobile experience.
Denso uses its long-standing technology to strive to create a comfortable in-vehicle space that can meet a variety of purposes and scenarios, including the three elements that achieve a comfortable in-vehicle space.

Image source: Denso Japan official website

Fresh air in the car: Fresh air in a confined space is one of the indispensable factors for safe mobility.

Image source: Denso Japan official website

To get clean air inside the car, you need to install a filter on the air conditioning system (HVAC). However, the stronger the ability to capture particles, the greater the resistance during ventilation, resulting in a decrease in the cooling and heating performance of the air conditioner. Denso continues to improve the technology that can filter fine particles while controlling the ventilation resistance as much as possible. In order to enhance the sense of security of passengers, efforts are made to use sensors to judge the state of the air and visualize it. The degree of air pollution cannot be seen by the eyes. Denso hopes to purify the air through hardware equipment and let passengers know that they are in a safe environment. Denso will also continue to develop technologies that can respond to diverse needs to meet various riding scenarios, so that everyone can have a healthy body and mind by providing healthier air.

Image source: Denso Japan official website

② Reduce driver drowsiness and fatigue

Image source: Denso Japan official website

Driver fatigue and drowsiness can directly lead to traffic accidents. Denso has been investing in research and development to reduce driver fatigue and drowsiness. Through continuous research and experiments, we have learned that in most cases, fatigue is easily accumulated in the area from the shoulders to the waist.

Image source: Denso Japan official website

Denso has recreated the "hot and cold alternating bath" environment often used in sports by alternating the heating and cooling functions of the seats in the car, and is verifying the relevant effects. Denso has also used its comprehensive strength in sensor technology to try to test the brain state, heart rate, and blood pressure in the car to obtain physiological information of passengers while the vehicle is driving. In the future, it is hoped that a space can be provided where passengers can be rejuvenated both physically and mentally.

③ Attention information & current information can be displayed synchronously with the scenery

Image source: Denso Japan official website

Denso has conducted in-depth research on voice recognition and sight recognition to achieve information display that does not hinder driving. For example, through voice control, after saying "get out of the way", the displayed information will move to a place that does not hinder the line of sight.

Image source: Denso Japan official website

In addition, Denso is developing an integrated in-vehicle head-up display (AR-HUD) equipped with augmented reality (AR) functions. In the future, it is hoped that when the road is not clear in foggy weather, the turning route ahead can be displayed, and the information communication function between drivers (V2V) can be used to know in advance the collapse of the road and display it.

Image source: Denso Japan official website

Grasping future trends and providing cross-border one-stop solutions
Denso always takes "what kind of experience do passengers want" as its starting point, finds topics, draws customer experience flow charts and further verifies them. It also actually makes prototypes and collects feedback from users. In addition, in order to deeply explore the elements of 4th place, it also pays attention to the needs of some more advanced users and grasps "future trends" and "future values."

Denso has gathered technicians from various fields and possesses technologies and capabilities that can realize diverse functions, covering multiple areas of automotive technology. Through cross-departmental project promotion, it is committed to developing one-stop solutions that go beyond the architectural framework.

Image source: Denso Japan official website

Image source: Denso Japan official website

Rethinking cars through 4th place, we can discover more possibilities of mobile space. In order to better respond to the user's voice of "I wish I could have such an experience", Denso continues to take on various challenges and strives to create a 4th place that can realize more creative inspiration.