At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2016 in Las Vegas, BMW's i Vision Future Interaction concept car dazzled with the world premiere of AirTouch, where sensors recognise movements made with the hand and also depth movements.
This means that the panorama display can be operated like a touchscreen, without having to actually touch the surface.
Sensors are installed in the area of the dashboard panel which responds to hand movements.
A movement of the hand can be used to go to a position on the panorama display and the selected icon is highlighted visually.
If the hand is moved forward (push gesture), the icon is activated or the menu displays the next level.
BMW i Vision Future Interaction concept.
The menus in AirTouch are not in the form of lists but appear as large tiles.
The system provides car occupants with context-sensitive option menus – for example, if music is currently running on a streaming service, buttons are displayed on one of the tiles that allow you to go forward or backwards to titles, stop playing or start again.
Also, with the BMW i8 Mirrorless, this is the first time a camera monitor system has been launched that offers BMW drivers a pioneering form of rear view with the potential to replace conventional exterior mirrors.
BMW i 8 Mirrorless uses three cameras that replace the rearview mirror, cover larger viewing angles and eliminates dangerous “blind spots”.
Images from the cameras are united on a display which replaces the interior mirror.
BMW i 8 Mirrorless system.
With the BMW i 8 Mirrorless system, superimposed trajectory lines provide support during parking, and the passenger can also observe the traffic behind the vehicle.
Meanwhile, the BMW i3 Extended Rearview Mirror also links up mirror and camera technology.
In the interior mirror, the mirror view is overlaid with very precise images from a camera positioned on the roof.
This provides a significantly extended field of view.
