As part of an emerging trend across the world, smart cars can manage everything from fuel consumption to remotely opening the vehicle when you've locked your keys inside.
And soon, with the development of a new technology, the digital car will be able to activate a boom gate when entering a parking station without the driver having to take their hands off the wheel.
The new technology, developed by a Queensland-based company, wirelessly communicates with the ticket dispenser, which activates the boom gate when entering the car park. When leaving, it electronically pays the ticket for you, removing the need to wind down the window.
The wireless application, developed by Distributed Systems Technology Centre (DSTC) Research Scientist Dr Matthew Davey, is set up on a computer installed in the vehicle.
When it pulls in to the parking station, the system makes an electronic connection with the ticket dispenser, which then activates the boom gate.
"The information gets sent via a wirelessly connected digitally signed time stamp. It's signed by the kiosk in the parking station," Research Scientist Dr Matthew Davey said.
When leaving the car park, the kiosk electronically calculates how much you owe and the amount pops up on the computer screen in the vehicle. The driver then punches in a pin number to authorise the payment, which then activates the boom gate again.
An account would be held with the car park, which would have your banking details.
According to Davey, the technology also has the potential to prevent car theft as the vehicle is recognised electronically and won't be let out of the car park unless the driver supplies the correct pin number.
The company - which partners with Object Technology International, a subsidiary of IBM Canada - doesn't expect to see a rollout of the application in the immediate future, however Davey told ZDNet Australia, "it is just another part of the overall trend to developing applications for computers in vehicles."
"It is an example of the immense potential for Java technology to work in tandem with specially designed security programs in a range of wireless embedded devices, which will eventually revolutionise the way we live and work," Davey said in a statement.
