i-audio (AI Integrated Unit) Development Koichi Matsuda Syoji Ueoka Isao Hamada Satoru Nakae Shigeo Nakamura Tatsuo Fujii Takeshi Watanabe Yoshinori Kagaya Shigehiko Miura Abstract The increasing popularity of cellular telephones and personal computers in the consumer electronics market over the past few years has been accompanied by an infusion of vehicular on-board electronic systems, both factory installed and optional, from every manufacturer. (Currently, features such as internet connectivity, e-mail, updated facility information, and electronic navigation systems are offered.) However, the majority of consumers do not feel that these systems are worthwhile in the present telecommunications environment given the demands of a vehicular environment (transmission speed, fees, etc.) and with the feature set and price presently offered. At Fujitsu TEN, we have decided to only pursue consumers who use audio product only and have developed the unit described here (hereafter referred to as "i-audio") pursuant to the objective of bringing to market an on- board system that can be sold at a low price and still offer necessary telecommunications features. The telecommu- nication services provided by this device are Area SHOT-- a service that enables location confirmation and supplies information on the surrounding area through map transmission; and E-iSERV-- a service that dispenses informa- tion from the ECLIPSE dedicated server. This document contains outlines of products and on-board features and information describing the new technology used in hardware/software development. 3 FUJITSU TEN TECHNICHAL JOURNAL 1 Introduction ・Wallpaper Display: Default 2 images, 1 Customizable image Recent developments in the consumer electronics ・Background animation: Default 3 Patterns market, such as the diffusion of cellular phones and per- AV Parts sonal computers have led to improvements in the ・Radio（AM/FM） telecommunications environment. Under this environ- ・Station Name Display ment consumers have come to recognize the conve- ・CD（CD-R/RW Compatible） nience of obtaining the latest information in real time. ・MP3 Playback Telecommunications environments for on-board ter- ・Memory Stick Audio Playback minals continue to be developed and put on the market. ・Digital Recording of Music from CDDA to Memory The passenger vehicle market offers an array of prod- Stick (ATRAC3 Encoding) ucts ranging from factory installed devices such as Telecommunications Parts Toyota Motor Corporation's G-Book, Nissan Motor Co., ・Hand-free Telephone Ltd.'s CARWINGS, and Honda Motor Co., Ltd.'s ・Area SHOT Internavi Premium Club to aftermarket systems such as ・E-iSERV（ECLIPSE Portal Site）Connectivity Pioneer Corporation's Air Navi, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.'s YOU Navi, Alpine Electronics Inc.'s 3 Main3. MainCharacteristics Characteristics i-assist NAVI, and AZZEST's (a division of Clarion Co., Ltd.) CADIAS. However, these products are positioned The main characteristics of this unit's design and in the market as little more than a combination of con- feature specifications are explained in this section. ventional navigation and telecommunications features, making them seem expensive in proportion to the ser- 3.1 Design Overview vices they provide under the current telecommunica- The main focus of design development was how to tions infrastructure (communication speed, fees, etc.). attractively convey the functionality and features of the Consumers have remained indifferent, believing that product to consumers. The design concept was devel- these systems add little actual value to the driving expe- oped after the aspects that needed to be emphasized for rience, taking the new products as offerings by which were conceptualized through novelty, anticipation and manufactures show off their technical capabilities. through images and assumed situations for actual use of In order to solve this situation, by combining Audio the products. and Telecommunications features into one product, we The aspects of this unit that were emphasized in at Fujitsu TEN, Ltd. have rejected the price point of design development are listed and explained in this sec- conventional automotive telecommunications systems. tion. Our system has been developed pursuant to the goal of 3.1.1 Molding, Layout offering value-added car audio products complete with 1) Consideration of Necessary Layout and Control telecommunications services including Area SHOT, Audio system products require that certain ele- which used transmitted maps to enable position confir- ments, such as the CD slot and the liquid crystal display, mation and provide information on the immediate area, be located on the face panel. The above must be fac- and E-iSERV, which provides information through tored in when considering design as a whole. Structural ECLIPSE dedicated servers. elements such as a Memory Stick Slot to accommodate The features and technology of this device are Memory Sticks containing image and music data and a explained below: keypad needed to meet control specifications were incor- porated into the design of this unit. As a result, the con- 2．Product Overview 2 Product Overview Keypad/Cursor Control CD Slot Source/Menu Toggle Buttons The following is an outline of ECLIPSE・i-audio 《E5503CDi》 Common Parts ・Outer Dimensions: 2DIN（W178 x H100 x D155mm） ・Weight: 2.2kg ・On-board Deck: CD Deck/Memory Stick Slot ・Control Method: Main Unit Control（Front panel oper- ation） Display ・3.3-inch Color TFT LCD Screen Size: H56.16 x V61.42mm Memory Stick Slot TFT LCD Volume Knob Resolution: 84,480（H160 x RGB x V176） Fig.1 Visual Design Layout FUJITSU TEN TECH. J. NO.21(2003) 4 i-audio (AI Integrated Unit) Development nection between features and control was considered a result, a set of consistent rules regarding the prioriti- from the initial stages of design onward. zation of information to be displayed onscreen were First, the unit is equipped with telecommunications established. Under these rules, title/menu information is features. The TFT LCD, which is the "window of infor- continuously displayed onscreen in addition to informa- mation", is located in the center of the unit. This is the tion related to basic features such as the Easy Direction result of consideration made in regard to both expres- Display and electric field information. sion of the units' functionality and visibility of the unit to Accordingly, even if the information displayed the passengers of the vehicle in which it is installed. onscreen is toggled, there is an element of consistency Next, frequently used knobs and the source menu maintained, and the position of information does not toggle button were placed on the right-hand-side of the change, which reassures users and promotes under- face panel in a layout that emphasizes functionality for standing of the unit as a whole. the driver (driver's side seat). In order to divide the Characters of identical content are divided by group unit's face panel into clearly defined areas for each type and displayed in a uniform tone/size. These divisions of use, the unit's characteristic keypad and Memory are applied throughout the system, which increases the Stick slot were placed on the left-hand-side of the face cohesion of the unit as a whole. （Refer to Figure 2.） panel. (Refer to Figure 1.) This unit is equipped with a 3.3-inch TFT LCD dis- There was a copious amount of structural elements play element capable of displaying 65, 536 colors blended that had to be included in this unit. For this reason, as together in a smooth gradient. Although the display is well as concerns over button size, functionality, etc., the basically rendered in a graduated monotone in keeping directional buttons that move the cursor (used alternate- with its visual design concept, data of vital importance ly with the keypad) were combined with the keypad. In such as information displayed via alphanumeric charac- order to make the buttons easy to distinguish from one ters and icons is displayed onscreen in combinations of another at nighttime, the lighting color changes to contrasting colors to make it easy to see. In order to amber when the cursor buttons are pressed. This was fully utilize the unit's visual potential, realistic moving done because it would be difficult to distinguish the but- images that make full use of its color palette are used. tons from one another in the dark using only the labels (Refer to Figure 3.) printed on them. 2) Visual Design Conveying Advancement and Smartness As represented by its telecommunications features, this unit is the pioneer of a new category. Accordingly, the first impression we would like the visual aspects of our design to convey is "advanced" and "smart". The desire to increase the status of this product is exempli- fied by its dynamic fusion of marketability and design. In order to effectively convey the aforementioned Fig.2 Basic Screen/Display Fig.3 Background Animation/Display design concepts, high gloss piano black paint was used on the unit's face panel in addition to hairline-accented acrylic panels and decorative parts detailed with lus- 3.2 Feature Outline trous silver metallic paint, accentuating the contrast of 3.2.1 Control Methods the unit's design. The balanced combination of finish and 1) Keypad Use texture give the unit a more refined overall look and In order to simplify the use of multiple functions, a emphasize its advancement and smartness. number was assigned to each menu item so that each 3.1.2 Screen Design item can be directly selected by pressing corresponding 1) Display Design That Emphasizes Consistency and keys on the keypad. This ensures easy control of func- Intuitiveness tions, which is similar to using a touch panel. This unit displays a wide variety of information For character input, "the kana method", which is onscreen, ranging from audio CD/radio station informa- well-known because of the spread of cellular phones has tion, maps and other content downloaded from E-iSERV, been employed for increased controllability.