Cars are rapidly becoming one of the biggest components of the IoT. With their vast array of sensors and electronics, and inclusion of 4G data connectivity, they have become rolling data platforms.

Data can be sourced from a car’s mechanical components, such as brakes, transmission and engine, and also from the driver: seat position, mirror adjustments, steering wheel tilt, and so on. If analyzed, this data could lead to vast improvements in safety, comfort and performance.

That’s where IBM’s Watson comes in. “The driving experience will change more over the next decade than at any other time of the automobile’s existence,” said Harriet Green, Global Head of IBM’s Watson IoT business.

Thanks to the company’s new Watson IoT headquarters in Munich, IBM is now partnering with companies across all industries to explore how its cognitive platform can become the brains of the IoT. The first of these collaborations is with BMW. Four i8 Hybrid sports cars will serve as prototypes, enabling conversations in natural language between drivers and Watson on topics such as the weather, road conditions or even advice based on the car owner’s manual, which Watson has already memorized.

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