Your Vote On: In-Car Gadgetry

Even the most basic cars on sale today can come laden with technology. For example, the Skoda Citigo has a Citysafe brake sensor, available as an option, which analyses the road in front and brakes for you at speeds below 19mph. Everyday family cars such as the Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus have the ability to park themselves and the top spec Vauxhall Astra SRi has an electronic parking brake. These are the sort of features you would only see on luxury cars such as the Mercedes S Class and Lexus LS 6 years ago.

However, are these clever gizmos making our driving experiences easier and safer, or was life more peachy when all we had was a driving seat, steering wheel, pedals and a manual gearbox instead of today's double-clutch wizardry. It's your chance to vote in this week's poll.

We discuss this topic as a result of hearing news of a new in-car technology concept which is yet another sensor for your car. Unlike other sensors which analyse the car and everything around you, it actually keeps an eye on the driver's movements.

Even the simplest of distractions such as changing the radio station from Adele or adjusting the climate control can cause accidents, which is what the engineers at Harman had in mind when coming up with this idea. What the in-car sensor does is look out for specific movements you make whilst behind the wheel and translate those movements into instructions for your car's systems and settings.

For instance, instead of reaching for a button to turn the radio on or off, you simply wink like you're trying to "attract" a member of the opposite sex. Forget looking at the centre of the dashboard to find the button to change the radio station, all you need to do is tap the steering wheel and if you're feeling a bit chilly just raise your hand above the gearstick to get the heater on. You can even do the phone receiver gesture with your hand, a bit like the ad for a well respected high street phone shop, to answer a phone call. Wazzup!

This is only a concept by Harman but the company reckons that after a few tweaks the technology could be creeping their way into new cars within two or three years.