Apparently the future in parking your vehicle may lie in using your iPhone, as Valeo have now demonstrated remotely parking a Volkswagen Sharan with the iPhone using the Automatic Park4U system, and we have that demonstration footage for your viewing pleasure below.
The video of the iPhone being used to park the Volkswagen Sharan comes our way courtesy of the guys over at 9to5 Mac, and lasts almost a minute and a half and shows the Automatic Park4U system in action and then with the iPhone towards the end of the footage.
According to Cnet, “A Valeo representative stood outside the car, a Volkswagen Sharan, and parked it merely by using an iPhone app. The car, going in reverse, turned its wheel to slot into a narrow, perpendicular parking spot between two other cars.”
Apparently when using the Automatic Park4U system, the user doesn’t actually control the steering, but rather that is controlled by the systems numerous sensors enabling the vehicle to park in 22-inches of clearance, although apparently the company is working on getting that clearance down to 16-inches.
For the demo, Valoe added remote control of both accelerator and break with the iOS app, the results of which you can check out in the video footage below, no word on if or when the public will be able to get hold of the automatic parking app.
Personally I’m not too sure I would trust a mobile app of any description to remote control the parking of my car, the only reason I can see for the driver exiting the vehicle and remotely parking it is if there isn’t enough space to get out once parked, but the risk of possibly going awry and hitting another parked vehicle has to be taken into consideration.
So what do our readers think about a remote parking app for the iPhone, a good idea or do you think the risk factor would be too great for you to use one…enjoy the video.