BMW presented at CES in Las Vegas a design called the Vision Dee, a car on which “mixed reality” technologies are put, to show how the German brand sees the digital future of its cars, after 2025. auto becomes your portal to the digital world,” says the brand design director.
BMW i Vision DeePhoto: BMW
BMW has had a lot of tech-heavy concepts in recent years and has released cars with lots of tech, as is the i7 model. After 2025 the company will produce new generation electric cars called Neue Klasse, cars that will also be built in the Hungarian city of Debrecen40 km from the border with Romania.
And the concept presented now shows how BMW sees those cars that will also feature augmented reality technologies. The concept now gives an idea of what very popular models like the BMW 3 Series will look like in a few years.
One of the most interesting novelties of the i Vision Dee concept is that the “Head-Up Display” projection extends across the entire width of the windshield. From 2025, this innovation will be available on Neue Klasse models.
“The BMW i Vision Dee is the futuristic middle-class sedan with a new, reduced design language. The name “Dee” stands for Digital Emotional Experience – and that is exactly its goal: to create an even stronger connection between people and their cars in the future,” says the company.
“With the BMW i Vision Dee, we are showing what is possible when the hardware part merges with the software part. This way we are able to exploit the full potential of digitization to turn the automobile into an intelligent partner. This is the future of car manufacturers,” said Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG.
“The car itself becomes your portal to the digital world, with the driver always in control,” said Adrian van Hooydonk, director of BMW Group Design.
The Germans are also talking about “mixed reality” technologies, in which augmented reality can also be experienced, in combination with the projections of the new sophisticated Head-up Display.
“Using sensors on the dashboard, drivers can decide for themselves how much digital content they want to see on the advanced Head-Up Display. The five-step selection ranges from analogue, through driving information, then through communication, to augmented reality projection, to entering virtual universes. In parallel, adjustable windows can be used to gradually blur reality. Mixed reality can be experienced in the BMW i Vision Dee in an immersive way that engages different senses without requiring additional tools, creating a new dimension of driving pleasure for the user”.
What BMW says about the design of the concept
The closed BMW headlights and grille form a “figural” symbol (the fusion of physical and digital) on a uniform surface, allowing the car to produce different facial expressions. This means that the BMW i Vision Dee can speak to people and at the same time visually express moods such as joy, amazement or approval. Technically, this is done using E Ink technology. BMW i Vision Dee can also project an image of the driver’s avatar onto the side window to further personalize the welcome scenario.
The design of the BMW i Vision Dee was deliberately shortened to focus attention on the digital experience and BMW brand DNA. The exterior is defined by the classic notchback sedan design that forms the heart of the BMW brand. Traditional design elements such as the BMW grille, twin circular headlights and Hofmeister curve are reinvented, with figural symbols replacing analogue elements. This gives the BMW i Vision Dee its own digital and humanised character.
What BMW says about the full-width projection of the windscreen – Advanced Head-Up Display:
“Eyes on the road, hands on the wheel” The BMW Group is known in the automotive industry as a pioneer of the head-up display and has systematically perfected this technology over the past two decades.
The full-width projection of the windscreen allows information to be displayed on the largest possible surface, which only becomes a display once activated.
In this way, the BMW Group is demonstrating the enormous potential of projection technology as well as a possible application in the latest generation of automobiles.
The BMW i Vision Dee shows how an advanced BMW Head-Up Display can also be used in the future for the display and operating concept.
The standard production version of the BMW Head-Up Display extending across the full width of the windscreen will be used in NEUE KLASSE models from 2025.”
