IFA 2026: When Technology Disappears

Smartphones aren't smart. Social media aren't social. And artificial intelligence isn't intelligent in the human sense. We're building increasingly powerful technologies. But are they actually making our lives better? Or are we becoming dependent on systems that were supposed to serve us? In this episode, I challenge some uncomfortable truths about AI, usability, and user experience. The battle for our attention. The power of algorithms. The responsibility of those who design technology. And why a little friction might actually be a good thing. Can a perfectly usable system be deeply unethical? When should we stop optimizing and start questioning? And why is saying NO sometimes the smartest technology decision? Technology is not the goal. Value is. The ultimate question: Are we creating technologies that people need? Or are we creating people who need our technologies?

Electric cars have become normal. The Metaverse has largely disappeared. Products are turning into ecosystems. And AI might soon connect everything. In the third and final part of my five-year CES retrospective, I look at technologies that survived, evolved, or quietly vanished. And at something else that has changed: my own perspective. Five years ago, I went to CES to find out what the future would bring. Today, I'm much more interested in what kind of future we actually want. Less hype. More value. Fewer predictions. Better decisions. Because the future isn't on display at CES. What we build is up to us.

The autonomous car is coming. Just differently than expected. Screens are no longer getting bigger and bigger. AI is leaving the screen and getting a body. And robots increasingly look like humans. But do they really need to? In this episode, I look at four major developments across five years of CES: autonomous driving, automotive HMI, Artificial Intelligence and robotics. The interesting question is no longer just "what technology can do". It is: "Where does technology actually create value for humans?" Because “we can” is still not a good reason for “we should.”

What do the CES years from 2022 to 2026 tell us about the future of technology and mobility? In this episode, I’m not looking at individual gadgets, concept cars, or trends. Instead, I focus on three fundamental shifts: CES is back. The traditional car manufacturers largely aren’t. Mobility is increasingly breaking away from the car. And software is evolving from a function inside the vehicle to the foundation of the entire product. So the key question is no longer just: What will the car of the future look like? It is: Who will define the technological system in which that car will eventually be just one part?

What remains after a day at IFA 2026? AI is everywhere, but increasingly disappearing into the product. At the same time, buttons and rotary controls are making a comeback. Robots are leaving the labs, exoskeletons are becoming lifestyle products, E-Ink is making digital content feel analog again, and smart glasses want to put even more technology between us and the world. Nine observations from IFA and one question that is becoming more important than “What can technology do?”: Which technology do we actually want to have in our lives?

What was the real story behind Car.HMI 2026 in Berlin? It wasn't bigger displays, smarter voice assistants, or even AI itself. Instead, one idea connected almost every discussion: orchestration. In this episode I share my key takeaways from the world's leading Automotive HMI conference. Discover why the cockpit is becoming just one touchpoint in a much larger digital ecosystem, how AI is evolving from assistant to orchestrator, why Human-Centered Design is becoming more strategic than ever, and why the next generation of vehicles may be defined not by software, but by the experiences they create. A forward-looking summary of the trends that will shape Automotive UX, HMI, and the future of mobility over the coming decade.

Chinese carmakers are rapidly expanding into Europe, bringing with them a new generation of highly digital, connected, and AI-powered vehicle interfaces. But will the HMIs that delight drivers in Shanghai create the same experience in Berlin, Paris, or Milan? In this episode, we explore the myth of the universal user, examine why Chinese and European drivers often have very different expectations of technology, and discuss why successful HMI design must go far beyond translating menus and localizing content. From transparency and trust to automation, privacy, and Cultural UX, we uncover how culture shapes the way people interact with technology. The future of Automotive HMI may not lie in creating different vehicles for different markets, but in building global platforms that deliver locally relevant experiences. Because as technology becomes increasingly global, one challenge becomes more important than ever: making technology feel human everywhere.

For decades, automotive HMIs lived inside the vehicle. Today, they extend across smartphones, cloud services, wearables, external displays, and AI-powered assistants. The car is no longer a standalone product, it is becoming part of a larger digital ecosystem. In this episode, I explore the rise of Liquid HMIs, the shift from vehicle interfaces to connected HMI ecosystems, and the growing importance of digital identity and personalization. I also examine the strategic battle between OEMs, Apple, Google, and other platform providers for control of the user relationship. The central message: the future of automotive HMI is not about more displays, more apps, or more features. It is about intelligently orchestrating an ecosystem that consistently creates value for people.

In this episode of the Human-Technology Podcast, I talk about one of the most important, and most misunderstood, topics in modern automotive HMI development: multimodality. Touch, speech, gestures, haptics, gaze control, AI assistants, modern vehicles are rapidly turning into highly complex multimodal systems. But does adding more interaction channels automatically create better user experiences? Not necessarily. This episode explores why multimodality is far more than a technology trend. It is about cognitive load, context, trust, safety, and the fundamental question of how humans should interact with increasingly intelligent vehicles. Peter argues that the future of automotive HMI will not belong to the vehicles with the highest number of features, but to those that best understand which interaction makes sense in which situation. Key topics in this episode include: 1. Why multimodality is system architecture, not feature accumulation 2. Why context almost always beats technology 3. The return of physical interaction and “The Revenge of the Analog” 4. How AI transforms multimodal systems into adaptive interfaces 5. Why real value creation means reducing complexity instead of adding more features A thought-provoking episode about the future of human-centered automotive interaction, and why the best technology is often the one that feels least like technology.

Automotive HMI is hitting a breaking point. For decades, it was simple: more features, more tech, more screens. That playbook no longer works. Automation turns cars into actors. AI turns interfaces into interaction partners. China introduces entirely different HMI philosophies. And beneath the surface? Even bigger shifts: software-defined vehicles, peak display, multimodal interaction, and HMI ecosystems beyond the car. But here’s what most people miss: This is no longer about usability. It’s about trust, control, cognitive load and the role of humans in intelligent systems. In this episode, I break it down: -The 3 obvious challenges -The 5 underestimated ones -The one meta-challenge that matters most: not losing the human in the system Because if we get this wrong, we’ll keep building technology that can do everything, except work for the people using it. If you want to get this right… we need to rethink HMI fundamentally.