Did we just complain that BMW is omitting the iDrive controller in some series? Everything is just the beginning. With the BMW i Vision Dee, the Munich-based company is setting off at full throttle into a virtual, realistic future – or is it just a “fantastic” future?
The study will be presented at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023 in Las Vegas. “Dee” (stands for Digital Emotional Experience) is intended to show how virtual and physical reality can merge when driving a car. With a personal address to the driver, side windows that work like translucent displays from the outside and inside, as well as the front and rear that show facial expressions all over Wish. Or an avatar of the driver on the side window. The BMW i Vision Dee should speak to people and at the same time visually express moods such as joy, astonishment or approval. We are talking about “phygital icons” here, i.e. the connection between physical and digital content. BMW gives the car its own digital and at the same time human character. The entire body as a digital canvas The entire surface of the vehicle is flexible like this: 32 colors can be displayed here at the push of a button or tap on a touch element (or probably also via voice control) – and not just the same across the board. In fact, 240 e-ink segments can be controlled individually and complex patterns can be displayed as a result. At the last CES, BMW showed the color change technology in a very simple version: At that time, a special BMW iX could only change from black to white. The entire windscreen as a head -up-DisplayWhat is to go into series production in a similar form from 2025 in BMW’s “New Class” (the new generation of electric cars) is the head-up display shown in the i Vision DEE. It can cover the entire windshield and remains completely transparent. Elements can remain permanently displayed in the lower area, and elements can also be displayed above them, for example to mark a hard-to-see cyclist in red or for other augmented reality displays BMW: the fusion of virtual experience and real driving pleasure,” says CEO Oliver Zipse. Innovative interior The driver uses the so-called Mixed Reality Slider on the cockpit panel to determine which content is visible. The five-stage selection ranges from analog, information relevant to driving, content of the communication system and an augmented reality projection to entry into virtual worlds. If necessary, reality can be gradually faded out via the dimmable panes, up to a purely virtual experience. In the “New Class”, the head-up display will probably not take up the entire pane, but certainly the entire width -Interior is completely without buttons and switches. The surfaces are made of light-colored fabric, with “Shy-Tech” elements underneath, which only become active when you need them. Whether all of this is really user-friendly remains to be seen. In any case, it looks spectacular – and fantastic in the best sense of the word.
source site-13