 It's 2018 and we are in a bit of an instrument clusterfuck. We're at the Detroit Auto Show and everywhere we look we see screens that are in work in progress. We're talking about the infotainment system, the auto industry's approach to UX. One car that we tested out was the seventh generation Volkswagen Jetta. It debuted here in Detroit and it has an option for a new digital cockpit. This cockpit reminds us of course of the virtual cockpit that Audi debuted a couple years back. It marks a real switch for Volkswagen which is now using the MQB platform for the Jetta which is also used on their Atlas and their Golf. You can use your screen to turn on the new beat sound system that's in the Jetta or one of our favorite fun features is to manually alter the mood lighting. So one thing we'd like to see more of is a feature like the ambient lighting which allows you to alter the color that appears in your car on a thin strip that runs around the periphery of the interior of the car. But we'd like to see more features like that that actually allow you to drastically change the car. Oh you can change it from verge pink to something else. Most of the technology that we saw at CES was nowhere to be found in Detroit. In Las Vegas we tested out the MBUX system which is made by Mercedes-Benz. It's the first system that they've actually developed themselves. One of the lead features of the MBUX system is its voice assistant which Mercedes developed in-house. They're the first car company to do this which is interesting because they're trying to keep peace with tech companies like Amazon and Google. We know that automakers are now offering Amazon, Alexa, and Google Assistant but if you looked around the Detroit auto show you would never know it. We asked five different automakers if they had Alexa systems that they could show us but there was no visible representation of Amazon or Google on the stand. So what you're kind of buying is still more a home myth. One company that broke the mold in Detroit was Nissan which displayed the cross motion SUV, a new autonomous concept car. The Nissan concept car has seven screens and then there's an additional screen where you stow your sunglasses or your garage door opener in a traditional car. But in that place Nissan has this thing called the digital room mirror and that shows cars in your rear view approaching rather than using the traditional side mirrors which is kind of cool. We're told this system is operated by using thumb prints or retina of your eye to control the function which then activates a koi fish that swims across your screen and acts as your personal assistant. Only thing is that we couldn't actually test it out so instead we just watched this video looping of this mesmerizing koi fish. Unfortunately at Detroit there are a lot of ideas but little chance to actually play around with the execution. Some automakers took screens to another level. The new RAM 1500 extended its massive proportions into a massive 12 inch touch screen. We found the system to be a bit laggy to use showing that maybe bigger isn't always better. The reality is that all of the automakers at the Detroit Auto Show and beyond such as Tesla and other companies that we don't see here today are all chasing the idea of how to make the perfect infotainment system. Whether or not our car works like our phone has nothing to do with the real issue which is how to keep us safe on the road. The best safety system is the best infotainment system which shares the commonality of being easy and simple and clear to use. Until we get to that point where we are not driving our cars and we can sit back and watch the koi fish in our screens, we're waiting.