Mixed Reality/Digital Emotion Interpretation of BMW i Vision Dee Concept Car

Bitauto Original It’s the annual CES Consumer Electronics Show again. As cars become smarter, more and more car companies will choose to participate in CES, such as BMW. As early as a few days ago, BMW began to warm up their upcoming new concept car through various channels, and even invited Schwarzenegger to shoot a promotional video, which can be said to be a huge fan. Finally, this concept car called i Vision Dee was officially unveiled, showing us BMW’s thinking about future cars.

As we all know, BMW's concept cars will have the word "Vision" on them, which represents design display; and electrified concept cars will have the "i" of BMW's electric department. The "Dee" in the concept car released this time is the model name, which stands for Digital Emotional Experience, which means digital emotional experience. This represents the BMW Group’s vision, emphasizing that the emotional bond between humans and machines will become increasingly important in the future. In other words, in this concept car we will see what BMW thinks the future of human-computer interaction will look like.

Of course, as a concept car, let’s take a look at the exterior design first. After all, this also represents BMW’s future design direction. As can be seen from the front of the car, the front face of this i Vision Dee concept car inherits the i Vision Circular concept car released in 2021, integrating BMW's iconic "double kidney" grille shape with the headlights and making them into one piece. The external interactive screen is unique and innovative. Different from the concept car two years ago, the i Vision Dee adopts the shape of a traditional sedan. Such a sports sedan has always been BMW's foundation, so it is also BMW's tribute to tradition. This can also be seen from the "Hoffmeister corner" of the C-pillar that is still retained on the concept car.

I believe many friends who follow CES still remember the E Ink-electronic ink technology released by BMW at CES last year. Through this technology, the car body surface can achieve various customized color changes at any time, which is undoubtedly good news for fashionistas. This year, on the i Vision Dee concept car, E Ink technology has gone a step further, changing from black and white to color. Thousands of color matching schemes allow further personalization. I wonder if we can expect the mass production of this technology in our lifetime. .

Next, it’s time to enter the digital emotional experience that BMW most wants to convey on the i Vision Dee concept car. By using various sensors, the vehicle can record a person's identity and location. When you approach the vehicle, it can interact with you through light effects and voice, and project your virtual avatar on the side window to welcome you.

When you enter the car, you will find that the interior is extremely simple. There are no various interactive buttons or screens. There seems to be only a steering wheel that can interact with people. But in fact, BMW used the Shy Tech technology they started mass production on the iX to hide various interactive (touch) buttons behind the interior panels. If there is no light effect, these buttons are completely hidden, and everything is Simple service. And when major manufacturers are competing to make the screens in their cars bigger and bigger, BMW says: Isn’t the windshield in front of you the largest screen? That's right, all functions that require screen display are realized in the form of panoramic HUD projection in the i Vision Dee concept car, and all the glass in the car can be regarded as a screen.

BMW’s answer to the future of human-computer interaction is hidden in the row of touch buttons on the right side of the steering wheel of the i Vision Dee concept car. After pressing them, the car will use mixed reality technology to bring people at different levels together. Computer interactive experience. On the first layer, the projection will project basic information related to driving, such as vehicle speed, etc., which is equivalent to the function of a traditional instrument panel; on the second layer, the projection will project communication and entertainment information, equivalent to the function of a traditional central control screen ; On the third floor, the projection will go one step further, using augmented reality technology to project navigation, assisted driving and other information, which has surpassed the functions of today's instrument panel and central control screen; and on the fourth floor, the projection will project the entire car. The windows are fully occupied, projecting a complete virtual world. According to my personal understanding, the fourth-level immersive virtual experience needs to be combined with L5-level fully autonomous driving. When the vehicle is driving autonomously, the occupants in the vehicle can enjoy swimming and interacting in the virtual world (perhaps the metaverse).

Full text summary:

Perhaps in the eyes of most viewers, the technology displayed by the i Vision Dee concept car is too far away from our real life, and many things are a bit too "virtual", but this is the unique charm of cutting-edge technology. In this concept car, BMW shows their thinking about future cars even decades later. In that era, there will be more intelligent autonomous driving technology, newer material technology, and more interconnected technologies. , the car is not just a means of transportation, but can become an important terminal device for human beings. On top of this device, it will also interact more with humans. The realization of all these ideas may start with this concept car.