Enlarge / A demo of Audi’s e-tron dashboard, simulating the Personal Intelligent Assistant, or PIA. It uses three HD OLED displays and ditches the rotary dial input for a touchscreen with haptic feedback. Audi says we can expect some of this technology to show up in road cars in the next 12-18 months. (credit: Audi)

Although we usually cover our own travel costs, in this case that was not an option; flights and accommodation on this trip to Munich were paid for by Audi.

MUNICH—The recent tech extravaganza put on by Audi didn’t just involve virtual reality. The Ingolstadt-based OEM also had plenty of automotive UX bits to show us, from infotainment systems found in its latest vehicles to ideas for a future in which your car plays a central role in organizing your life. Obviously these future developments are built off the hope that the cars will be connected.

Yes, we know many of you hate the idea of connected cars. But in addition to relatively obvious benefits for the end user—things like preventative maintenance alerts—connecting cars also means Audi will be able to benefit from the same approach that Tesla has been using to better understand the needs of its customers. And, in this case, we’re relatively confident in saying the automaker is taking issues like privacy and security seriously.