Retractable-Stud Winter Tire

When it comes to transforming a vehicle into a winter-weather warrior, nothing could be better or more convenient than this concept tyre designed by Finnish tire manufacturer Nokian.  The tyres have retractable studs.The idea is to provide the capability of studded tires without the need to swap them out every time the sun shines, and the concept tire deploys—and retracts—the studs at the punch of a button. As pointed out by Jalopnik, the idea of tires with retractable studs will be familiar to James Bond fans, the technology debuting in Timothy Dalton’s Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante in 1987’s The Living Daylights.

Nokian was the first maker to market with a winter tire, and the announcement of the retractable studded rubber is at least in part meant to celebrate its 80-year history in the winter tire game. If Nokian can actually produce this concept at a reasonable price, we’re sure the residents of wintery climes would stand in line to purchase a set.

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Ways We'll Interact With Tomorrow's Self-Driving Cars

At the 2015 International CES, automotive tech provider Valeo demonsted two new ways that we'll interact with the self-driving cars of the future: with its Mobius adaptive information display and InBlue smartphone and smartwatch virtual-key tech.

Valeo's InBlue tech virtual key system will allow drivers to ditch their car keys and bulky key fobs and use a smartphone or smartwatch to unlock and start the vehicle.

Valeo envisions that this tech, which will be available in the next few years, will also put remote monitoring of the vehicle's fuel level, tire pressure, mileage and service intervals, GPS location and more right on the driver's wrist. "There will be no more looking for your keys and no more looking for your car," says Jean-Francois Tarabbia, Valeo senior vice president of Research, Development and Product Marketing, also pointing out that our smart devices are always with us and that InBlue-enabled cars will be GPS-connected.

Looking a bit ahead, Valeo hopes that drivers will be able to simply walk out of the front door and automatically summon their Valet Park4U self-driving car from a nearby parking deck simply by checking their wrist. The supplier also thinks that smartphone virtual-key technology will help with the spread of car-sharing services, which it claims 4 out of 10 European drivers are interested in.

Mobius, on the other hand, is much more conceptual. This dashboard is designed as a demonstration of how autonomous cars could display different information depending on whether they're under manual or machine control.

The concept starts with the now-familiar fully digital instrument cluster and adds a pair of small touchscreens to the steering wheel. When the driver is in command of the vehicle, this trio of screens displays a simplified interface, providing low-distraction infotainment. When the driver activates the autonomous driving mode, the displays change to a more smartphone-like interface, giving access to media, apps, and smartphone and tablet mirroring via HDMI or wireless display standards such as Miracast, Chromecast or AirPlay.

In Valeo's vision, the driver will be able to watch videos or answer email while the car is negotiating stop-and-go traffic or handling a mundane freeway cruise.

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