In one vision of the future of transportation, humans are mere passengers, the ballistic baggage of all-knowing, all-seeing computers zipping about, safely and efficiently in fully autonomous cars. And the robot drivers are coming, no doubt. But if you want to retain any control of how you move through Tomorrowland--or just improve how you navigate today's world--you'll need a tool that upgrades your skill level. You'll need augmented reality, the oft-confused cousin of virtual reality that integrates digital intel into your natural view. Thanks to efforts like Mircosoft's HoloLens and secretive startup Magic Leap, the tech that many people know from Pokémon Go will be a $90 billion market by 2020, according to consulting firm Digi-Capital.

A good acronym also hints at what it does, and Visteon's new intelligent in-car concept, HABIT, is a good example of that. The Human Bayesian Intelligence Technology system -- to give it its full name -- learns the behaviour of drivers so it can automatically change the temperature, heat the seats and drop that Biohazard album just when you need it most. Factors such as weather, time of day and real-time road conditions all play a part, plus, of course a log of all your typical in-car interactions. It promises to go above just warming your behind on a cold morning though, offering intelligence that would be able to divine local radio stations that play your kind of jam when you're out of town. It could also seamlessly mix these with your local / tablet / smartphone library and internet sources.

"Most current advanced driver assistance systems based on radar and cameras are not capable of accurately detecting and classifying objects – such as cars, pedestrians or bicycles – at a level required for autonomous driving," said Sachin Lawande, president and CEO of Visteon, a leading global cockpit electronics supplier. "We need to achieve virtually 100 percent accuracy for autonomous driving, which will require innovative solutions based on deep machine learning technology. Our Silicon Valley team, with its focus on machine learning software development, will be a critical part of our autonomous driving technology initiative." Visteon's recently opened facility in the heart of Silicon Valley will house a team of engineers specializing in artificial intelligence and machine learning. The center is located close to the West Coast offices of various automakers and tech companies, as well as Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley – two of the leading universities for artificial intelligence and deep learning in the U.S. In addition to leading Visteon's artificial intelligence efforts, the Silicon Valley office will play a key role in delivering control systems, localization and vision processing – interpreting live camera data and converting it to information required for autonomous driving.