One of the
things we missed about VW’s EcoRacer when it
debuted at the 39th Annual Tokyo Motor Show was a little piece of technology living on top of its gearshift. Beneath a
flip-up panel on the head of the stick lies a biometric scanner that can identify the fingerprint of whoever is driving
the car. If, for instance, your overzealous offspring swipe the keys to your brand new EcoRacer, the car could recognize
that the driver is not its owner and go into a special mode that activates all of its active safety technology and
reduces the vehicles power and top speed. Auto IT, however, makes a good point in that relying on biometrics for a vehicle’s security isn’t very smart since fooling the technology in some cases only requires a ball of Play-Doh. While the EcoRacer does feature two security factors, the vehicle’s keys and its biometric defense, we agree that both could be potentially overcome. Now if VW throws in vocal recognition software and a retinal scanner then you're virtually guaranteed your kids can't pull a Grand Theft Auto on the family car.
