LAS VEGAS: Volkswagen demonstrated an entire fleet of vehicles at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas to show just how much the car and computer are already intertwined today and will continue to grow together in the future.

The main focus at the show were on four aspects: computer-controlled drive systems; app and smartphone integration; intuitive vehicle operation; and autonomous and semi-autonomous driving.

"The two inventions of the century, the car and the computer, are gradually coming closer together. We need to design future mobility to be even more intelligent and even more networked," said Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen AG.

Electric mobility is coming into its own. The e-Golf and Golf GTE are the protagonists of a new mobility. At CES, Volkswagen is showing, among other things, how electric cars will be able to automatically dock to inductive charging stations and output signals that indicate the battery state-of-charge using the vehicle's exterior lights.



Later this year, VW will introduce the second generation "modular infotainment platform" (MIB II) in the United States and Europe. Along with the new infotainment system, MirrorLink will also be made available for the first time, integrating the apps and operating layout of numerous smartphones (including Samsung, HTC, LG and Sony) into cars.

When MirrorLink is introduced, two other interfaces will also be launched under the App-Connect label: CarPlay (Apple) and Android Auto (Google).

In the next revolutionary step — which Volkswagen is showing with the Golf R Touch concept vehicle at CES — the infotainment unit will use cameras to not only detect hand gestures, but understand and assign meaning to them. Gesture control will make it possible to control displays and functionality without having to use a touchscreen.



The Golf R Touch is equipped with three displays: the 12.8-inch high-resolution infotainment system touchscreen; a Control Center (8.0-inch with touch feedback) arranged beneath it to control vehicle, climate control and media functions; and an Active Information Display (digitalized instruments, 12.3-inch).

Volkswagen is now showing another evolutionary stage of Park Assist: Trained Parking. Here, the car scans a frequently driven path to a parking space via camera, and from that point on it executes the path semi-automatically by computer control.

In another evolutionary stage, it will be possible to have the car parked by the driver remotely, using a smartphone to control the car.

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