Smart Vehicle Spaces

During the past few decades, cars have transformed from being relatively mundane spaces underpinned by mechanical platforms with sprinklings of electronics into complex computational platforms. As a result of this continual development and the smart spaces it has enabled, we are now seeing the signs of tectonic shifts in car-related experiences, ranging from ride services to autonomous vehicles. These are underpinned by the key elements of intelligent systems—sensing, actuation, computation and communication resources—which are now routinely built-in to cars, along with additional resources brought in via mobile devices and beamed-in from the cloud. This special issue offers an insight into what we can expect from smart vehicle spaces and the technology that enables them.