Audi Lets People Play Pictionary Through the TFT: And This is Okay?
Car drivers are easily distracted enough as it is, we can probably do without an Audi full of people playing Pictionary.
Audi has wheeled out its latest in-car infotainment system, which allows occupants in a car to play games like Pictionary, all while the car is moving.
Let that sink in, a car, potentially carrying five people, travelling down the road while they all play board games. Can nobody see that this could cause the driver of the car to be distracted?
The press release from AirConsole, the people behind the tech, proudly reads “hot on the heels of its partnerships with BMW and VW, the pioneer of in-car gaming, AirConsole is unveiling its latest innovation with Audi”.
I’m really not comfortable with the phrase “in-car gaming”, and while its makers claim that only passengers can take part (thanks to a so-called ‘privacy curtain’ that blocks the driver’s view), I find it hard to believe that being in control of a car full of people playing board games wouldn’t be distracting.
Imagine the scene, the passenger in the front and two in the back are playing a game. The person in the front doesn’t know the answer, so they show their phone to the driver to ask for help. Cue stationary traffic in front and splat. We have a crash.
Gaming has been possible in vehicles before, including for the driver, but that was only when the vehicle was parked. This, it seems, is the first instance of gaming on the go being introduced in a car.
Now, I’m not totally down on the idea of this, after all, it could be a great way of keeping the kids quiet on a long drive. But it makes me very nervous to see the front portion of the cabin, where the important act of driving takes place, having large screens which display games installed in it. Should this system have been incorporated into the back of the car, either in the centre console or the back of the seat, I’d have thought it a much more appropriate use of the tech.
And it’s not just Pictionary getting the ‘Car Party’ treatment, the AirConsole catalogue features additional games across multiple genres, including racing, sports, trivia, and party games. Familiar names you can play on the go include Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Overcooked and UNO Car Party.
So, if you see an Audi A5, Q5, A6, A6 e-tron, and Q6 e-tron on the road this summer, give them a wide berth. They might only have a Phone a Friend lifeline left to get to £1,000,000!
Find the latest motorcycle news on Visordown.com
Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
