iDrive: Develop the ultimate device and get $5M

Venture capitalists provide $ 5 million for developing the ultimate iDrive as CNN reports in their list of 20 tantalizing business ideas. So I would say the 5 million go to Ingolstadt in Germany where Audi developed the MMI.

The Ultimate iDrive

The Investors: Jonathan Fram, managing partner, and Howard Schultz, co-founder, Maveron

What they've backed: Cranium, Eos Airlines, GameLogic

What they want now: A driver's tech fantasy fully realized: an in-dash computer with a keyboard built into the steering wheel and a full-screen heads-up display projected on the windshield.

It's not fantasy at all, actually. The technology behind the system that Fram and Starbucks (Charts) founder Schultz envision - laser or cathode-ray tubes that convert pixels into projected light - was invented for jet fighters more than 30 years ago, allowing pilots to read cockpit data without taking their eyes off the sky. Commercial pilots now rely on it, and automakers have experimented with in-car displays that flash data like speed and RPM in a corner of the windshield.

Fram, a former IBM (Charts) computer design engineer, wants to invest in a startup that can take the concept to the next level, since carmakers, he says, have been too slow and risk-averse to push technology that has obvious safety implications.

A key advantage of projected displays is that they don't distract drivers' attention nearly as much as cell phones or dashboard controls. They create the illusion that they're floating 15 feet in front of the vehicle - and a GM (Charts) study has shown that eyes can refocus much faster when they're switching between the road and a projected display than when they're toggling back and forth between the road and the dashboard.

"This way," Fram says, "you can stare straight ahead with hands on the wheel to drive and check e-mail at the same time. That's vastly safer than drivers looking down and taking one or both hands off the wheel to play with their BlackBerry." Adding voice-to-text features, he adds, would also help ensure safety. It's up to a startup team, of course, to make that a convincing case.

What they'll invest: $5 million for a deeply qualified 20-person team to deliver a prototype and a plan for pitching a commercial version to automakers within three years

Send your pitch to: jfram@maveron.com.

Related news: Foursprung, P4MR

Source: CNN

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