Car. Cult or simple object? At a time of energy transition and autonomous driving, the question arises because of the leveling that these two advances will create between all brands. On this subject, the historical manufacturers, especially, drive on the tip of the tires. From then on, they contrived to revive the automotive imagination.
Especially with the younger generation who generally associate this 19th century inventione century to a constraint rather than to the satisfaction of a desire. To seduce it, that of tomorrow will have to lead itself, to reassure us. And distract us too. In short, everything in a car that will allow you to do something other than hold a steering wheel.
BMW exhibits at CES (formerly the Consumer Electronics Show) its vision of individual mobility. This is called DEE (Digital Emotional Experience). A conceptual study that aims not only to forge an emotional bond with its occupants, but also to give them an unprecedented virtual and physical experience. “Anyone who achieves this technological mesh will control the future of the automobile”, thinks Frank Weber, head of development on the board of directors of BMW.
Driving, a game
A few weeks before its presentation in the American capital of the game, BMW had invited some international journalists to experience the research of the propeller brand in the field of virtual driving. A BMW M2, a virtual helmet on the eyes, and we hit the road.
We were driving on a sodden circuit in broad daylight, but for whoever was behind the wheel, the car was speeding, in the middle of the night, towards a futuristic city on a translucent track. It was littered with BMW logos that had to be touched to earn points.
Would you rather see gold coins, melons? Why not, the possibilities are endless. This is what BMW calls “Mixed Reality”, supposed to bring a “new freedom”, believe its developers. It is an integral part of the DEE study. The latter does not require a virtual helmet to switch to another world since it appears on the windshield and in all the windows that surround the vehicle. In addition to this change of scenery, the windshield also acts as a dashboard, traditional and essential instruments and connectivity vying for a place on this glass surface.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY BMW
The door opening control is backlit on the door panel, which is covered in a white canvas canvas.
With a rare minimalism, the passenger compartment has no physical controls. That of the opening of the doors, for example, is backlit on the inner door dressed in a canvas of white canvas. The steering wheel controls adopt substantially the same principle and light up when the thumbs caress the edge of the rim.
classic styling
From the outside, the DEE hides its game well, presented in the guise of a saloon whose appearance will remind those over 40 of yesterday’s BMWs. However, all generations will have no trouble identifying its double grille, the brand’s signature since 1933. It is here embedded in a black film studded with light-emitting diodes which reveal the headlights whose shape you dictate (round, rectangular, square, or even triangular, if you like).
A timeless, classic style, but that the consumer of tomorrow will be able to personalize as often as he wishes. This also applies to lights and wheels.
The Munich brand is currently carrying out several experiments to mix up the rims, such as when we color the spokes of the wheels of our bicycles with straws, children.
Logical continuation of the E Ink project presented a year ago, which allows you to change the color of the bodywork in a few seconds. This process consists of covering the outer walls with a thin film made up of microcapsules which, using an alternating current, brings the color pigments to the surface. Yesterday, the palette was limited to black and white; today, BMW can compose all the colors of the rainbow and more.
However, two questions remain unanswered. How much will it cost to afford this chameleon on wheels? And how will this innovation react when it passes through the brushes of a car wash?