The BMW Group has shared its vision of the future digital experience, inside and outside the vehicle, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023 in Las Vegas.
BMW presented the i Vision Dee, which it says is a futuristic mid-size saloon with a pared-down design. Dee, which stands for Digital Emotional Experience, aims to forge a strong bond between people and their cars. The luxury vehicles company noted that digital functions of automobiles in the future will go far beyond the voice control and driver assistance systems that we are familiar with.
The Group has refined its use of colour-change technology. Last year, the carmaker unveiled the BMW iX Flow Featuring E ink technology, which gave it the ability to change colour from black to white. At CES 2023, the i Vision Dee has taken this a few steps further with its potential of curating its exteriors in up to 32 colours.
Oliver Zipse, chairman of the board of management of BMW AG said the company is “exploiting the full potential of digitalisation to transform the car into an intelligent companion”, something he terms as “the future for automotive manufacturer”.
Other salient elements showcased by the automaker included the BMW Mixed Reality Slider, the central operating control of Vision Dee, and the Advanced BMW Head-Up-Display, which will be offered in NEUE KLASSE starting 2025, and “phygital icons”.
The Mixed Reality Slider will use shy-tech sensors on the instrument panel, letting drivers decide for themselves how much digital content they want to see on the advanced head-up display. Mixed reality will be experienced in BMW i Vision Dee in an immersive way that engages different senses without requiring any additional tools, creating a new dimension of driving pleasure for the user, BMW said.
In the BMW i Vision Dee, projection across the entire width of the windscreen will allow information to be displayed on the largest possible surface – which will only become recognisable as a display once activated. The standard-production version of the BMW Head-up-Display extending across the full width of the windscreen will be used in the models of the NEUE KLASSE from 2025 onwards.
The headlights and the closed BMW kidney grille will form a common phygital (fusion of physical and digital) icon on a uniform surface, allowing the vehicle to produce different facial expressions, meaning BMW i Vision Dee will talk to people and, at the same time, express moods such as joy, astonishment, or approval visually.
When it comes to design, BMW said its i Vision Dee has been deliberately pared down to focus attention on the digital experience and the DNA of the brand.