This blog tends to be the place where I talk about the things that I get really excited about (Apple stuff, cell phones, Lotus software, Disney, etc.). But there’s one topic I’ve never been able to work into this blog: cars.

That changes today.

Yesterday, I got an email from Nissan asking me to participate in a survey. I agreed, hoping that the survey would be about my current car (a Murano) since the lease is almost up and they’ve done NOTHING to try to encourage me to buy another Nissan product (which I think is insane, but whatever). Instead, the survey was about how I strongly I felt about some features they might put in upcoming cars. It was really an interesting peek into what the auto industry is looking to put into cars in the future.

I thought others might be interested as well, so here’s a list of some of the features mentioned on the survey that I thought were most interesting (my interpretation of the feature is in brackets “[ ]” - all features were listed with a graphic or picture as well):

• One Action Clean Air [detects clean air and opens vents, then shuts them when smoke or smog is present]
• Forest A/C Package
• Forest A/C Package with Breezing Air
• Aromatherapy [not a bad idea if you ask me]
• Anti-Stain/ Anti-Wear Interior Materials
• Heated and Cooled Cup holders
• Around View Monitor (AVM) [uses cameras to display a whole view of what's around the car on a screen]
• Rear View Monitor with Preview
• Alcohol Level Detecting System
• Security Heartbeat Monitor [a sensor on the seat belt reconizes a heart beat - don't ask me how]
• Visual Audio Package (Visual Audio+ USB + iPod Connection)
• 5.1 Surround Sound
• Music Server
• Wireless Audio
• Wireless Media Transfer
• e-PKB [like the Lexus that parallel parks itself]
• Selectable Driving Mode
• Pedestrian Warning [detects if a person is infront of you and shows a graphic of that]
• Parking Fit [determines how well you're able to park in an area]
• Speed Limiter (with traffic signal recognition) [upcoming signs (stop, yield, etc.) appear on your dash]
• Auto Hazard Lamp
• Adaptive Rear-lighting System (ARS) [lights get brighter the harder the person brakes]
• Night Vision
• PreCrash Seat Belt [seat belt gets tighter when a crash is expected]
• Side Collision Prevention (SCP)
• Intelligent Cruise Control (ICC) [anyone see the Mercedes demo of this where they crashed two cars because they forgot to turn it on during the demo? hilarious!]
• Low Speed Following (LSF)
• Intelligent Brake Assist (IBA) [brake reaction changes depending on driving conditions]
• Distance Control Assist (DCA)
• Lane Departure Prevention (LDP)
• Side Obstacle Warning (SOW)
• Remote Vehicle Communication via Mobile Phone [I want that feature now! It'll tell you if your car's doors are locked, lights are on, etc.]
• Friendly Driving Partner [instead of a low tire pressure warning, a voice will give you a friendly greeting reminding you of that]
• Intelligent Advisor [perhaps the most impressive item - this learns your driving habits, the places you go and advises you on the status of your car, locations of restaurants you like, etc. -- I love this idea for the sole purpose of finding a coffee shop wherever I am.]

The survey also asked if you would pay certain prices for each option. In each case, I thought the price was very close to what I would be OK paying to get it in my car. It’ll be exciting to see some of these features go into future cars.