BMW looks to the future with shape-shifting concept car

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BMW looks to the future with shape-shifting Vision Next 100 concept

David Szondy March 8, 2016

7 PICTURES


The BMW Vision Next 100 concept looks forward to the features of tomorrow's autonomous car (Credit: BMW Group). View gallery (7 images)

BMW's Vision Next 100 concept car might look like someone came to the tires and got a bit confused, but there is definite method to what seems like automotive madness. Developed as a celebration of the BMW Group's centenary, the Vision Next 100 is the company's attempt to take a long-term look at what the car of tomorrow might look like after autonomous drive technology has fundamentally changed automotive design.

The Vision Next 100 made its world debut at the BMW Group Centenary Event in the Munich Olympic Hall on March 7 to mark 100 years since the company first appeared on the commercial register. According to the designers, the idea behind the vehicle isn't just to spur the imagination, but to create a car that anticipates a time when self-driving cars are a mature technology, city streets are more crowded, time is a premium commodity, and connectivity and interactive technology has been freed from the confines of the dashboard display.

The Vision also reflects the growing desire by consumers for bespoke products. In recent years, advances in technology have allowed people to order all sorts of personalized goods and many digital devices can learn from their owner's behavior and adapt to accommodate it.


The same idea is behind the design brief for the Vision Next 100. According to BMW, the concept is able to alter itself to meet the driver's desires and habits, not just in terms of tweaking the suspension or switching off the traction control, but in physically altering the car itself on the go and anticipating and even improving the driver's performance.

BMW says that the styling of the Vision Next 100 was meant to reconcile the petrolhead and the comfort-loving with "blend of coupé-type sportiness and the dynamic elegance of a sedan." Its dimensions are those of a compact, but the interior is that of a luxury BMW sedan. It also has a copper color scheme that the designers say symbolizes the connection between the driver and the technology.

For easy access, the scissor wing doors open automatically and the steering column retracts into the dash thanks to sensors that recognize the driver as they approach. Pressing the BMW logo on the dashboard closes the door and extends the column again.


However, the most striking visual cue for the Vision Next 100 are what appears like fender skirts on steroids. BMW assures us that the wheels are there, but they're hidden underneath a sort of intelligent mesh of triangles that shift and change the shape of the body as the wheels turn to help cut down the drag coefficient to 0.18.

This shape-shifting architecture blends in with BMW's goal of making the Vision Next 100 a showcase for potential interactive technologies. A major example of this is the concept's ability to switch between full autonomous mode, called "Ease," and a more driver-centered mode called "Boost."

In Boost, the Vision Next 100 configures itself around the driver as they take control of the vehicle. This isn't just tweaking some settings. Instead, the steering wheel and seat shifts and the vehicle itself morphs to indicate the ideal driving line, steering point and speed, and the center console angles itself toward the driver. In addition, the driver can interact with the car by means of gesture control.


In Ease, the concept car alters itself for full autonomous mode. The sees the steering wheel and center console retract, the headrests turn sideways, and the seats and door trim merge into each other. This allows the driver and passengers to face one another and relax as the car takes over the task of handling the commute or long road trips. In addition, the head-up display switches to personalized content and entertainment, and augmented displays highlight the passing scenery.

The Vision Next 100 even has its own digital majordomo called the Companion, which uses sensors and artificial intelligence to study the driver and help to both improve their skills and adjust the car to their preferences. Over time, it can even anticipate and take over routine tasks, leaving the driver to higher level decisions. Represented by a small, gem-like element next to the windscreen, the Companion lies flat in the dash when not fully active, but rises up in Ease mode to not only display data, but to act as a light-up warning on the front of the vehicle to pedestrians that the Vision is under full autonomous control.

BMW says the Vision Next 100 also toys with the idea of getting rid of displays entirely by merging the digital and the physical. Instead of a dedicated control panel or a small head-up display, the concept uses the entire windscreen as one giant display of road and weather information as well as an augmented reality display.


Additionally, the car uses what is called Alive Geometry, which presents analog cues in the car itself. This system consists of 800 moving triangles in the dashboard and side panelsthat shift like a flock of birds in flight to provide visual cues to the driver and passengers as to what the car is doing. For example, in Boost mode the Alive Geometry highlights the ideal driving line and warns of oncoming vehicles, while in Ease mode the feature moves more discretely to warn the passengers about turns, acceleration, and braking.

The Vision Next 100 is scheduled to go on a world tour with appearances in the United States, Britain, and China before stopping at the BMW Festival in Munich in September.

The video below discusses the design of the Vision Next 100 concept.



http://www.gizmag.com/bmw-group-vis...ail&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-3d4cd77e06-91203193
 
Bgol obsession playing the blame game, yelling black women are worthless, white men , and barivian motor works.
 
TF are you talking about


If only his toothless, trailer park dwelling, obama hating, cac granddaddy had made a shape shifting ford, then I would have probably posted that too.

Another BMW concept car with a docking drone :eek2:

Rinspeed turns BMW's i8 into the self-driving, drone-docking Σtos concept
C.C. Weiss December 16, 2015

42 PICTURES


Step inside a high-tech world. View gallery (42 images)

When it comes to designing concept cars, Rinspeed doesn't just think outside the box; it crushes the box down, rips it to shreds and uses the shreds to light the bonfire it stares into as it daydreams about its next idea. Next year, it's abandoning its longstanding convention of debuting a creative concept at the Geneva Motor Show, instead using the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show. The Etos concept adds a little consumer electronic tech to the Swiss think tank's way-beyond-the-box thinking.

In case you think we're exaggerating about the sheer automotive lunacy coming out of Rinspeed's Zumikon, Switzerland HQ, consider past concepts like the Splash hydrofoil amphibious sports car, Presto collapsible car and sQuba electric submersible - weirdness with wheels. In fact, you could look at Rinspeed's entire show car portfolio dating back more than 20 years, and you'll have very few "I could imagine that showing up at the dealership" moments.


And we're not being critical. We love that someone has the guts to attack automotive design like a wild-eyed student, then actually build ideas into real, tangible concept cars. The pictured Splash even took a record-setting ride across the English Channel.

Given the earlier January date of CES compared to the March start of the Geneva Motor Show, Rinspeed has tweaked its usual December teaser/February reveal schedule, teasing the Etos in October and opening the full press kit this month. The concept combines two themes that promise to be a big part of CES: autonomous driving and drone tech.

Built atop the BMW i8, the Etos centers around an advanced autonomous platform that combines eight exterior HD cameras, high-precision GPS navigation with 3D imaging of buildings, trees, bus stops and other notable surroundings, and car-to-x capabilities. An interior gaze-tracking system monitors the driver's eyes to track what he or she has and has not seen, providing warnings to help augment natural vision. The electronic side-view mirrors operate as part of this system, displaying an image only when the driver looks at them.


With the Etos, Rinspeed continues the in-house evolution of the autonomous cockpit that it started with the 2014 XchangE and continued with last year's Budii. Each of those previous concepts employed its own style of adjustable steering wheel for adapting between human and machine driving, and the Etos has the cleanest implementation yet: a steering wheel that folds and retracts neatly into the dashboard when autonomous mode is selected. This way the driver doesn't even have to be reminded about the tedious task of driving endured by his ancestors.

The Etos boasts an advanced infotainment system with dual curved 21.5-in Ultra HD wide screens. Harman helped develop the brain of the system, an infotainment engine with connectivity, entertainment and safety features. The predictive system learns and adapts to the driver's behavior and delivers reminders and updates about things like routing, refueling, appointments and settings. So not only does the driver not have to take the wheel or pedals, but he shouldn't have to spend as much time operating in-car hardware. When he does, it can be done by voice, gesture, touch or physical controls.


Another interesting feature of the cockpit, the stylish Carl F. Butcherer Patravi Traveltec analog timepiece lends a classically Swiss twist. It's enclosed within a rotating housing that provides automatic winding. That arched housing also rotates to point an integrated webcam at the driver or passenger position for video calls.

All the Etos' connected car features of course rely on a stable connection for reception and transmission of data. The Etos uses both a smartphone connection and a set of roof-integrated Vites flat antennas. The infotainment system compounds data about cellular reception and route to keep access as smooth as possible and inform occupants about upcoming disruptions in network access.

While autonomous tech is the clear highlight of the Etos, the feature that is sure to make the most buzz at CES – literally and figuratively – is the accompanying DJI drone docked on a purpose-built landing pad. This drone takes on the role of personal assistant and photographer, as Rinspeed imagines it performing errands, such as picking up purchases made from inside the vehicle and taking video footage of the drive, before flying back to the car.


As if a drone-docking autonomous hybrid didn't have enough extraneous tech, the drone landing pad gives it a little more. Made from Gorilla Glass, the landing pad includes 12,000 individually controlled LED lights designed to turn it into an electronic message board or pulsating light show.

Styling isn't always a major talking point of Rinspeed vehicles, but the think tank has made it a focus of the Etos, which looks quite different from the stock i8. Beyond just the usual tuner-style aesthetic updates, including heavily modified front- and rear-ends and 20-in Borbet GTX rims, Rinspeed injects ceramics and metal alloys into the build and adds a 3D-effect finish to the front.


Once again, Rinspeed has us rethinking what the automobile can be - even though it will probably never be this. For a closer look and feel, Rinspeed will be premiering the car at CES from January 5th through the 8th and showing it again at the Geneva Motor Show starting on March 1st.

Auto geeks headed to CES have plenty of all-new hardware to look forward to this year. Startup Faraday Future will show what its automotive vision is all about; Audi will be showing a concept car; Chevy is expected to bring the production Bolt EV; and Volkswagen will debut an all-new electric concept car still expected to be a Microbus revival. If the e-Bus rumors prove correct, let's hope VW designers have worked overtime to make the design look anywhere near as beautiful as the Zelectric 1964 electric Microbus we saw in LA.

Source: Rinspeed
 
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