'Exciting' future for sat nav

Both the bane and saviour of many motorist's journeys, the Sat Nav sytem has been a piece of technology that has stolen all of the motoring headlines over the last few years.

Countless stories on the web detail motorists being sent the wrong way down a one way street or ending up crashing into a pond thanks to their unreliable sat navs, but for most people they have been a welcome revelation, enabling motorists to get to their destinations with relative ease.

Sat Navs are now full of extra gadgets that are designed to enhance the motorists driving experience, such as signalling where there is bad traffic in real-time, pointing out locations of speed cameras and even inter-changable voices, with fan favourites Tom Baker and Ozzy Osbourne top of many system owners lists.

And as the technology continues to advance, drivers in the UK could soon benefit from satellite navigation systems that make use of wireless vehicle connections in order to provide the latest traffic information, according to an expert.

Recent research by Ofcom suggests that in the future wireless technology will enable cars to automatically contact emergency services after a collision or even prevent crashes by developing automatic braking systems.

Developments in the technology have also resulted in the conception of self-driving cars, able to wirelessly communicate with one another to avoid crashes and plot courses to the desired destination.

"In theory any device that exchanges data over a cable can be re-engineered to use a wireless connection", said one expert

"Once vehicles have a basic form of interactive wireless connectivity, there is very little to stop navigation systems updating dynamically and perhaps using intelligence to avoid bottle necks."

It is said that wireless technology would also make it possible for in-car entertainment systems to be connected to the household media server, so games consoles, television and the internet could all be wirelessly connected to build an in-car entertainment system for when you're on the go.