On the auto industry’s annual calendar, the Detroit Auto Show used to be the first major exhibition of the year. But its prominence has been usurped somewhat by the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where automotive trends are staking out new territory.

Held just a few days apart this month, the Detroit and Las Vegas shows offer food for thought. The settings couldn’t be more stark. In Detroit, the one-time auto capital is clawing its way back from bankruptcy and its show is held in the depth of a winter freeze. On the other side of the US, in sunnier Las Vegas, the exhibitions are as glamorous and dazzling as the floorshows at casinos.

What brings two such disparate worlds together are the new technologies of assisted and connected driving. It seems that being faster, lighter and greener – the sexier elements of car sales – are taking a back seat to fancy gadgets once considered as add-ons to the driving experience.

Is the convergence of the auto and IT industries reaching a point where cars will be redefined as consumer electronics, or is it just that carmakers and auto suppliers are pushing themselves too hard and too far in a competition with Internet companies for a leading role in future carmaking?

It’s obvious that cars are becoming computers on wheels, forcing their way into doors once guarded by elitism and professionalism. What they lack in carmaking experience, Internet companies make up with their ability to recruit experienced professionals in the realm of digitalization.

It’s a new world of creating more value in a car, based on the collection, analysis and presentation of massive amounts of data, making the driving experience increasingly connected, transparent and efficient.

As senior car executives might describe the revolution: “You can’t go against the tide. You swim with it. And you bear in mind your advantages.”

Internet companies aren’t carmakers by experience, and carmakers aren’t digital specialists by nature. That is one message to come out of the Las Vegas show. It is how these two different sectors adapt their thinking and come to grips with market realities that set the tone for the development of new age cars.

Let’s look at what the electronics show tells us about the way we will be driving.

Off to search and rescue, unleash the drones

As a rapidly growing category in consumer electronics, unmanned aircraft is part of Ford’s big picture about coordinated smart mobility. In cooperation with DJI, a professional-grade drone systems and software provider, Ford has announced a developer challenge of drone-to-vehicle communications, based on its SYNC AppLink or OpenXC platforms.

Designed to serve United Nations emergency response teams, the technology will be able to order drones to take off from base stations in Ford F-150 trucks to enter zones inaccessible to even the most versatile vehicles, capture videos of a targeted area and create a map of where survivors are. In the future, application could also extend to agriculture, forestry, construction and bridge inspections.

Virtual guide, a short-cut into reality

Familiarizing oneself with full vehicle capabilities is no longer about going through the user’s manual page by page, inevitably ending up dazed and drowsy. The 2D/3D guide by Hyundai on smartphones and tablet computers spells it all out clearly by using augmented reality technology, which provides easily downloaded know-how about usage, repair and maintenance.

First introduced with the 2015 Sonata model, the guide covers more than 45 major features of the car, streams 82 how-to videos and presents six 3D overlay images that appear when users scan areas of their vehicle, like the engine bay. Expected to be compatible with additional models, the app will also adjust the lessons based on the findings of Hyundai consumer surveys.

Map out the future, with precision

On its way to autonomous driving into 2020, Toyota is developing a system for generating high-precision maps as key navigators for self-driven cars. The maps will have to be honed for providing quick self-updates.

Today’s data collection for maps, mainly using 3D laser scanners through towns and on main roads, and manually adding information about curbs, divides and other configurations, is too infrequent and cost-intensive, according to Toyota.

By using automated, cloud-based spatial information-generating technology to piece together road images and vehicle positioning information gathered by cameras and GPS devices, Toyota’s data centers will be able to automatically generate a big picture in real time, and then scale it up at relatively low cost. The new system is expected to restrict the margin of error to 5 centimeters.

Bye-bye driving stress

Whoever said health management is outside the purview of carmakers? According to Audi, the cabin is an ideal space for fitness monitoring, as shown by its Fit Driver system. It runs on wearables such as wristbands and smartwatches.

Keeping track of a driver’s vital signs like heart rate and skin temperature, the system supplements the data with information on driving style, weather and traffic conditions. The idea is to understand a driver’s state of being, matching biofeedback with amenities such as seat massage, climate control, adaptive infotainment and interior lighting.

If signs of elevated stress and fatigue are detected, the system can automatically make intelligent brake recommendations, play a video tutorial for breathing exercise and even initiate driver assistance and safety systems, including a piloted emergency stop in extreme situations.

Better reflection without a mirror

Replacing traditional rearview mirrors, a camera monitoring system on the BMW i8 Mirrorless offers better views and larger angels without dangerous blind spots. Two insignificant-looking cameras set in aerodynamically optimized holders replace exterior mirrors. The images they capture, together with the feed from a third camera mounted the rear windscreen, are combined on a display that takes the place of the interior rearview mirrors.

Within a driver’s sight will be a panoramic view of surrounding traffic. The display prevents glare from behind being reflected.

A further feature could be a situation response to imminent dangers detected by the system, with warning signals illuminated on the display.

Easy breezy, distance cleaning

Before taking a car out for a drive on a cold winter’s day, a driver may need to clear frost from the windshield. With a little foresight, that can be done from the warm comfort inside a home by using the Remote Clean4U by Valeo.

It is an automatic windshield defrosting and cleaning system controlled by a smartphone app. It’s an example of how the emerging Internet of Things can be used across platforms.

At fingertip command, the app can order distribution of defrosting and cleaning fluid from the company’s AquaBlade windshield wiper system without the need to go out and start the engine. Its defrosting function, which takes less than 90 seconds, is more efficient than a heated windshield and consumes 28 times less energy than an electric defrosting system. The specially formulated cleanser is also capable of washing away insects stuck on the windshield.

Hassle-free parking, a relief in cities

In metropolises like Shanghai where parking can be a nightmare, Bosch’s active parking management system feels like a sweet dream.

Drawing on data collected by sensors installed in the pavement of parking spots, the system can deliver a real-time map about space availability and transmit the information to drivers via smartphones. In residential and inner-city areas where free spots tend to be tighter, the system can take the initiative to measure an unoccupied space between parked vehicles at a curb and tell a driver if his car might fit.

With fully automated parking initiated by a smartphone app, a car can not only complete parking maneuvers but also find a place for parking and return to the drop-off point, all by itself.

Mind-reading through the eyes

As a complement to voice recognition and gesture control, eye-glance automation is the latest technology to show up on Delphi’s touch-free cockpit interface, invisibly.

Multitasking is a hard-to-suppress impulse when drivers are tempted by various distractions, such as the radio, media player, navigation system, seat heating, air conditioning or even the phone. But, at least the way people use them can be made intuitive.

Using cameras hidden behind the dashboard, the technology can track eye movements and deduce a driver’s intentions. For example, a glance at the center stack with a focus on a certain icon can order the system to highlight that icon. And from there, hand gestures or natural language voice control can take over control, allowing drivers to keep their concentration on the road and spare them clumsy interaction with today’s complex infotainment systems.