I confess, I have been known to talk to pieces of kit on our van. Indeed, when they don’t work I am prone to shouting at them. Even verbally abusing them, but generally to no avail.
That may all be reversed for some owners of new vans from RP Leisure. They are set to unveil their newest Rebel model, and you can talk to it.
The most sophisticated van they have ever built will debut at the Caravan, Camping & Motorhome Show in February.
RP’s Smart Assist system, allows to talk to your van and control features such as lighting and heating. No longer will you need to search for switches or controls. Instead, you can just say out loud, “lights off” and out they go! Or “put heating on” and suddenly the van is warm enough in the morning to contemplate getting out of bed.
Two years in development.
Unique to RP Overland the Smart Assist system is the result of two years of development. Created in-house at the company’s Leeds HQ, it uses an Apple iPad mini to communicate with the motorhome.
It has its own internal e-sim imbedded into its software. As well as providing feedback to the vehicle’s owner, the systems can talk to RP Customer Support. It can monitor habitation functions such as the water system, heater, boiler, air-conditioning, fridge and lighting. This will help owners avoid typical problems such as flat batteries or the fridge door being left open.
Smart Assist can make your driving experience more comfortable, too. The system monitors the vehicle’s internal temperature, enabling you to remotely switch on climate control to cool it down a few minutes before you head out to the ‘van.
Using the iPad mini owners can check emails, use the high-definition camera and listen to music.
Best of all while you can talk to it you can program it not to answer you back. Or when it does you can instruct it to talk more loudly!