Originally published on My Tesla Adventure.
Twas the night before Christmas and 2:00 am. The only one stirring was Tesla’s Starman (Eli Burton), as he sat in his Tesla opening the gift that Santa Musk had given him.
https://twitter.com/engineers_feed/status/1209491413546745857
In the video above, Eli, aka Starman from My Tesla Adventure, gives us a preview of Tesla’s Full Self Driving technology and also a first look at Tesla’s latest software version 2019.40.50.1 update. Eli shows us several new and exciting things that came with this Christmas Eve update.
Updates
Driver Profiles.
New settings have been added in this update, which will include navigation settings such as volume levels for navigation voice guidance as well as traffic display settings. Eli also points out how important Driver Profiles are for those who may share their car or have more than one Tesla. With this feature, Tesla makes sure that your car is exactly to your comfort levels from climate control to sound.
Save Dashcam Clips On Honk.
This would actually help Tesla owners in traffic to record proof of accidents that would help them in court. It would also remind us that sometimes honking is unnecessary and to be nicer to people on the road.
Adaptive Suspension Damping.
Adaptive Suspension Damping now has three tailored modes:
- Comfort provides a gentler ride and a more relaxed driving experience.
- Auto replaces Standard to be more responsive to dynamic driving.
- Sport continues to provide a firmer, more controlled ride that increases driver engagement and connection to the road.
TRAX v0.1.
You can make your own music inside a Tesla! Just like with the Tesla sketchpad for drawing, you can make an “audio masterpiece” with TRAX. Eli pulls up the app and loads it onto the screen and is a bit excited at the fact that you can actually mix music. There is also a keyboard and Eli breaks out a two-second jam session with Beethoven.
Voice Keyboard.
With this feature, you can dictate text into your car as I do with Google Text to Speech. Now people will blame Tesla for their typos. This feature is accessible by the microphone icon on the keyboard (like on the phone).
Games.
- Backgammon. You can play against your passenger or against your Tesla. This actually made me think of the TV show Person of Interest, in which Harold played chess against The Machine, an AI that he created.
- Stardew Valley. The theme of this game is that you have inherited your grandfather’s old farm plot and now you must learn to live off the land.
Tesla Theater.
Tesla Theater now lets you watch Twitch streams in the app.
Camp Mode.
Tesla enables your car to maintain airflow, temperature, interior lighting, and play music. You can also power your devices. This is the mode just for Eli because he loves camping in his Tesla. He explains why this update is vital. “It’s always been a little frustrating for me that when I want to power something from the car I have to leave the door open to trick the Tesla into leaving the power on.” Eli can’t wait to try out this new Camp Mode.
Phone Improvements.
Your Tesla can now read your texts to you and you can send text messages by saying them out loud to the speakers in your Tesla and it will send them. Eli sends himself a test message in the video and it’s pretty funny to see Tesla helping him talk to himself.
Voice Commands.
You can say things like, “Show me the rear camera,” and it will show you the rear camera. These commands have been built to understand natural language. Tesla focused on commands that would minimize having to touch the screen so you can keep your eyes on the road. Reread that if you’re shorting Tesla. You can now tell your car to take you home or to your favorite restaurant and do many other things without having to touch thescreen. This may seem simple, but it’s a huge advancement in technology that helps contribute to safer driving. This is why Tesla is a tech company, not just a car company.
Preview of Full Self Driving
https://twitter.com/wholesnack/status/1209727442602143744
This preview shows us the Driving Visualization Improvements that show more new objects such as stoplights, stop signs, and select road markings that hadn’t yet been seen in previous versions of Autopilot. However, this is a preview, meaning that you are seeing improvements in the software but it’s still not yet FSD. So, remember to stop at the stop signs and red lights.
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