Concluding just-auto’s series of interviews with OEMs that enjoyed the limelight at the most recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES), we spoke to executives of BMW to learn more about the carmaker’s Connected Window, i Inside Future sculpture and the future of personalised, connected mobility.
Could you tell us about some of the technologies that BMW highlighted this year at the most recent CES and your main message?
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BMW is shaping the future of mobility and the way we experience it through ongoing development projects and technically revolutionary innovations in automated driving, intelligent connectivity and interior design. At the CES 2017, BMW presented a wide range of new products and services which are set to headline this radical change in the very near future.
The BMW Connected Window extends BMW Connected’s wide-ranging functionality to include digital life at home. It shows the user – at the relevant time and in the relevant area of the home – what actions may be required for personal mobility planning. Since the system is linked up with BMW Connected, exchanging information and contacts, planning the user’s personal mobility agenda and selecting infotainment functions are possible not just in the vehicle and on a smartphone but also on a ‘big screen’ in the user’s own home. The technology is operated using gesture control, i.e. by intuitive touchscreen-style commands – but without actually touching a screen.
BMW also revealed a vision of an interior whose architecture and user interface are extensively adapted for fully automated driving on board a vehicle that is seamlessly integrated into the driver’s digital life. The BMW i Inside Future sculpture, which caters precisely to the individual requirements of a vehicle’s driver and passengers in all sorts of ways, while still providing sufficient space to experience a journey together. The interior is conceived as a room with separate zones allowing the passengers to spend the journey as they please, fulfilling to-do lists and wish lists alike. The various ideas for the vehicle interior of the future include a pioneering way of controlling functions: BMW HoloActive Touch takes the gesture control functionality that is already available today in the BMW 7 Series and BMW 5 Series to a whole new level. The innovative interface between driver and vehicle comprises a free-floating display next to the steering wheel that can be operated directly with the finger, and an ultrasonic source that provides tactile feedback for the driver’s inputs – all without actual contact being made with a user interface.
Also at 2017 CES, a prototype based on the new BMW 5 Series Sedan unveiled the future of personalised, connected mobility. Advances in automated driving and intelligent connectivity are moving hand in hand. Connectivity means extensive data-sharing, which is not only important for safe and convenient mobility with a highly automated element but opens up other possibilities, too. For example, intelligent connectivity between the vehicle, the driver and the outside world also creates new opportunities for drivers to plan their personal mobility experience and integrate it with the rest of their daily life. BMW showcased a preview of how the mobility experience will evolve with the help of innovative digital services. The ground-breaking mobility experience, served up in customary BMW style, starts even before the driver steps on board the vehicle. Users can connect up to the underlying digital platform not only in their BMW but anywhere they want, on a variety of devices such as smartphones, smartwatches or via Amazon Echo with integrated voice assistant. Based on BMW Connected and the Open Mobility Cloud, this platform is already up and running worldwide. Using a wide range of digital services, BMW Connected adapts to the personal mobility needs of users, helping to get them to their destination with a minimum of stress.
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By GlobalDataThe innovations BMW showcased at the CES show in design, technology and functionality emphasise the company’s leading role over many years – through its ConnectedDrive programme – in the field of connected driving.
What is your vision of the connected car?
Today, intelligent connectivity is already increasing the options available for customers to manage their personal mobility agenda and use digital services inside their vehicle. Drivers and passengers are already accustomed to remaining permanently connected with their digital life while out on the road. This expectation leads, among other things, to greater demands on the vehicle’s display and control system. Interior design will be increasingly influenced by the desire to control a growing number of functions easily, safely and intuitively. The wealth of functions on offer is remarkable even now, ranging in current BMW models from state-of-the-art driver assistance systems and in-car entertainment programme to the array of communications facilities that turn the car into a mobile office. And with the advances in autonomous driving anticipated for the future, the list is certain to grow longer still.
What are the possibilities that the always-on connection provide BMW?
At CES 2017, BMW unveiled its BMW i Inside Future sculpture, which caters precisely to the individual requirements of a vehicle’s driver and passengers in all sorts of ways, while still providing sufficient space to experience a journey together. The interior is conceived as a room with separate zones allowing the passengers to spend the journey as they please, fulfilling to-do lists and wish lists alike. The various ideas for the vehicle interior of the future include a pioneering way of controlling functions: BMW HoloActive Touch takes the gesture control functionality that is already available today in the BMW 7 Series and BMW 5 Series to a whole new level. The innovative interface between driver and vehicle comprises a free-floating display next to the steering wheel that can be operated directly with the finger, and an ultrasonic source that provides tactile feedback for the driver’s inputs –all without actual contact being made with a user interface.
We understand that there are some promising opportunities opening up in the automotive industry from correlating data on cars, drivers and their environment. What is your perspective?
Data protection and data security are a matter of highest priority for the manufacturers and suppliers right from the development stage. Data protection for the connected vehicle is ensured by carmakers among other things through technical and organisational safeguards that are continuously being adapted to the latest state of the art.
BMW collects, stores and uses the personal data submitted by customers only in accordance with legal regulations and only where this is necessary for the purpose of setting up a contract, entering or editing contract data (master data) or for managing service usage and billing data (usage data).
In order to use breakdown, Emergency Call and information services, the vehicle must be identified and located, and the information needed in order to provide the required assistance must also be transmitted. When the customer uses BMW ConnectedDrive information services the customer enquiry along with vehicle identification and location data are, where applicable, forwarded to service providers to whom BMW has outsourced the services. The data is used by these service providers exclusively in connection with performing the required service, and is retained only until all related procedures have been duly completed, after which it is deleted. Beyond this, no data is forwarded to third parties.
Following the termination and final settlement of the ConnectedDrive contract, the personal data stored by BMW for the purposes of fulfilling the contract is deleted with due regard for legally stipulated retention periods.
Presumably using eyes, voice and hand gestures, it is possible to eliminate buttons from an infotainment system. What is your vision of this touch-free user experience?
The BMW i Inside Future sculpture, shown at 2017 CES, is equipped with a Dashboard Display that is fully integrated into the instrument panel and extends across its entire width. In contrast to conventional screens, the non-illuminated areas of the cutting-edge widescreen monitor do not stand out from the sections of the cockpit surrounding them. All functions can be selected and activated by voice control or from the driver’s seat using the BMW HoloActive Touch system.
A lot of the discussion around automotive applications of Real-Time and VR is focused on car configurators. Are these simply a better way to do the same thing or are they indicating a new direction?
BMW i has just launched* its augmented reality visualizer, which means that customers can explore a real-size virtual BMW i3 or i8 anytime and anywhere that suits them. With augmented reality of this quality, the customer gets the next-best thing to having a real car, but with the convenience of not having to visit the dealership. Both the inside and outside of the car can be visualised (colours and trims can be modified) and thanks to the 3D nature of the experience, the customer really can get inside the car, check out the size of the trunk, see how good the visibility is from the driver’s seat etc.
BMW Group products are emotional products and the decision to buy one is in part an emotional decision. Augmented reality gives the customer a more emotional experience than can be achieved by a configurator on a computer screen. The fun and interactive elements of augmented reality, as well as the added value of gaining a better ‘feel’ for the product, are additional benefits.
* launched on Google Play on 21 February (not China or USA, they will follow in spring 2017).
See also Connected vehicle technologies – forecasts to 2031
