Did you think technology had shown everything possible? Prepare to be amazed: here is BMW Dee, the car with augmented reality inside and capable of changing colors.
Technology can reach as yet unexplored heights in any field, and today the automotive field proves it. A touch screen in the cockpit and voice commands, you thought? Sure, but you can go much further.
Bmw is convinced of this, and has just unveiled a vehicle with incredible prospects: changing body color and virtual reality directly on the windshield already prove that it needs no touch screen at all. Here are the new features of Bmw Dee.
Table of Contents
The car that changes color: how Bmw Dee works
The most aesthetic and recognizable feature, which is already making the most headlines, is certainly the body workmanship. Coated in a thin film of e-ink, what it can do is incredible.
E-ink is a digital ink recently used for many purposes. Such as resembling paper and other real materials to give an extremely realistic viewing sensation. Here its application is futuristic.
Just as e-ink mimics paper and ink on common e-book readers (Kindle or Kobo), it also changes here. And practically speaking, it will allow the entire bodywork it covers to change color. In practice, the car itself will be able to have different shades depending on the da and the user’s preferences.
Already during the official presentation, there was a glimpse with the body changing from white to purple to yellow. And not only that, patterns such as stripes can also be created on the car, as the electrical pulses of the color are easily managed remotely.
And it sounds like a catch phrase, but the color change is practically just the beginning. This is demonstrated in Bmw’s presentation trailer, which includes so much more.
As in science fiction, the digital windshield is the screen of Bmw Dee
Perhaps we have seen this concept in science fiction movies, or even better in video games. A glass in front of us on which, in addition to reality in transparency, we see digital elements such as data, information, alerts, in real time. They interact with and enrich reality, for games they are fundamental.
With Bmw Dee all this becomes tangible. The car has no internal displays because the entire windshield is the screen of the car. It is called iVision Dee.
On its surface we will experience 4 different levels of digital immersiveness. The first involves us seeing only reality, as from any glass, and then as we go up we add data, information and various elements, until we reach the highest level.
The last one, in fact, is total virtual reality. As if we were using a Facebook-style visor, on the windshield we will be able to see forests, oceans, maybe planets. The only thing that will not change will be the driver.
Of course, Bmw plans high levels of safety on the use of virtual reality. So that it never gets in the way of driving and safety. In fact, the first reason to have so much digital information on the windshield is precisely to display important data (speed, warnings, etc.) without ever taking your eyes off the road.
It is still too early to find out everything in detail. But there are a few other elements that are anything but minor that are already ready to impress.
Minimalism, touching and an avatar just like us on the side
Minimalism is undoubtedly embedded inside Bmw Dee, we can already see it from the lines, the lack of chunky elements, and indeed the presence of so many super-intuitive and frill-free controls.
The intention is to encourage focused driving. Bmw Dee’s controls will very often be touch controls, so that the driver will not have to waste time grasping and moving objects with his hand. Just swiping over it for a single moment will be enough to precisely adjust virtual reality or many other things.
What is even more surprising, however, is the functionality of an avatar (even the same as us) that will welcome us into the vehicle. We will be able to have a real digital friend on the side, with whom we can talk and interact.
Bmw promises that the car, and thus its avatar, will not simply be able to talk, but also to show real emotions. How far all this digitizing will go, how manageable and how truly useful, we will only find out in time.
The fact is that evolution is underway, and it is still difficult to see how far it will go, between virtual windshields, chameleon-like bodies and avatars of oneself.
Read also: Will self-driving cars be reality soon?
