You know you live in a privileged society when you can book a suite and browse discounted doughnuts with the help of your personal in-car concierge.
At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, General Motors plans to debut its new OnStar assistance feature AtYourService. In a recent press release GM described it as a “commerce and engagement offering that connects drivers with retailers and merchants on their drive providing information, convenience and money-saving values tied to their specific destinations.”
So, how exactly will it work?
Well, let’s say that Joe Shmoe requests directions using OnStar’s voice-operated system to Dunkin’ Donuts (one of GM’s current partners). An OnStar advisor will send him any special deals that DD is currently offering. Users can also use the 4G LTE Wi-Fi capabilities to browse other nearby offers from participating merchants. Many states plus Washington D.C. currently have laws prohibiting handheld cellphones. So to keep customers safely browsing, GM’s new feature aims to eradicate the consumers’ need to fiddle with their phones while driving, creating an overall safer driving experience.
But is it really essential for drivers to search for coupons en route anyways? I wouldn’t say trolling the internet at a stoplight for a 20 percent off coupon is high on most people’s priority lists.
Nevertheless, GM has already secured partnerships with coupon collecting giants like RetailMetNot and Entertainment Book, as well as e-book content from Audiobooks.com, and parking data from Parkopedia.
Besides finding coupons and reading books to drivers, AtYourService can also help drivers locate hotels and book reservations using Priceline.com. Subscribers simply give the general location of where they’d like to stay to the advisors, who then select from Priceline’s participating hotels in the area and book a room. After it’s booked the driver receives an email confirmation of their reservation.
If you’re someone who needs validation in your belief that everyone else on the road is an idiot, no worries. This summer, OnStar will also begin giving driving-based feedback and insurance discounts via its Snapshot program from Progressive Insurance. Drivers will be able to enroll in a 90-day evaluation program where motorists’ driving data will be collected, evaluated, and compared to other anonymous enrolled customers. Users will then receive assessment-based driving tips provided by OnStar.
We’re not entirely sure what OnStar and Progressive will do with all of the collected data, either saving or selling it, but the combination of these features with this new in-car shopping experience is on trend with mobile automotive features. In the end, with the advent of several automotive companies working on developing driverless cars—like BMW’s ultra-futuristic “exclusive cocoon” concept car which operates more as a mobile living space–as well as connected collision avoidance systems in the near future, AtYourService may be the very time-wasting feature you’ll need to distract yourself from the lack of actual driving.
The creation of this new feature makes sense as a profitable win-win for General Motors and its partners’ advertisers to further monetize the driving experience, but is this handsfree feature actually a distraction? It’s not yet clear if the ads it features will be some sort of auditory nuisance for drivers, or subtle helpful reminders–that will have to be determined once AtYourService actually makes it to the road.