Elektrobit Releases EB Guide 6, a Tool for Developing Automotive Interfaces
Elektrobit a developer of embedded technology solutions for the automotive industry, has launched EB GUIDE 6, a software toolkit that allows automakers and developers to design and develop multimodal in-car screens with advanced graphics, plus voice-, touchscreen- and gesture-based controls. EB GUIDE 6 includes a free, downloadable version—EB GUIDE Studio 6—available for download starting in mid-August.
EB GUIDE 6 represents a complete redesign of the EB GUIDE human-machine interface development toolchain, integrating new features such as a streamlined graphical user interface. Existing models, animations, widgets, and other assets can be reused for different projects, brands or markets. The software toolchain allows users to work in distributed projects with support for branching and merging software models, and it automatically integrates models created using previous versions of EB GUIDE software, providing an automatic migration path for assets created with EB GUIDE 5.5.
"EB GUIDE 6 is the latest version of EB's ground-breaking automotive HMI development tool," said Roger Lanctot, associate director of the global automotive practice at Strategy Analytics, in a statement. "Automakers today are under pressure to innovate and iterate, which means moving forward while re-using the best of existing solutions. EB GUIDE 6 makes it possible for them to keep pace by allowing the rapid creation of custom, branded user interfaces that can be extended across product lines and readily modified or updated as needed."
EB GUIDE 6 offers developers the following:
- Graphical with 3-D support, animations, effects, and integration of HTML5 content;
- Touch, multi-touch (e.g., pinch, zoom, rotate) and path gesture recognition (detection of a path drawn on a surface); and
- Voice, with the latest speech technology from VoiceBox Technologies.
"User interfaces can be a key differentiator for car models as well as build brand value for carmakers. With the trend towards integration of smartphones and other consumer devices into the vehicle, the complexity in terms of creating a smooth and non-distractive usability is growing, and the role of the in-car HMI is taking center stage. How you interact with your car will continue to evolve with every new model, enabled by increasingly sophisticated HMIs," said Christian Reinhard, head of human-machine interfaces at EB Automotive, in a statement. "With the new business model for EB GUIDE 6, we open the door to any developer to design a consistent, multimodal UI via a single HMI development tool."
EB GUIDE 6 was originally developed for the automotive market, but also has applications in other markets, including industrial automation, medical solutions and avionics.
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