Mary S. Butler

This month’s issue of headlightblog.com, which I edit, is devoted to vehicle telematics. Especially interesting is the lead article by Christopher Stapanek on the 2009 Nissan GT-R, which is the first production vehicle to have a video game designer as part of the new model development team. Kazunori Yamauchi, the Gran Turismo game series producer, and his team at Polyphony Digital were given the responsibility of planning and designing the instrument panel display screens (a closeup of which is shown here, as it appears in a right-hand drive prototype) on the new GT-R.

For those who are unfamiliar with the Gran Turismo series, the racing game is well-known for its realism and more than 50 million units have been sold since the first title in the franchise was launched in December 1997. and is the top seller in its category. The GT-R was featured in a version of Gran Turismo nearly a year before the production model went on sale in the U.S. this month. In an unprecedented move, the production model ‘09 GT-R and a special prologue edition of Gran Turismo 5 were unveiled at the same at the 2007 Tokyo auto show.

Also worth checking out in this month’s issue are Andrew Green’s “It’s a talking car!” article, in which he builds a strong case to support his prediction that everyday vehicle telematics will become the authoritative reference point for owners in the future. Ben Bloom is back this again this issue with a thoughtful piece on “Advanced telematics services in an age of portable data” and an accompanying proposal for four open social principles that should be adopted by vehicle telematics providers.