BMW shows ‘digital emotion experience’ i-Vision Dee in Las Vegas

The BMW Group shows its vision of ‘the future digital experience’, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023 in Las Vegas. The BMW i Vision Dee is a futuristic mid-size sedan with a new, pared-down design language. ‘Dee’ stands for Digital Emotional Experience, aiming to create an even stronger bond between people and their cars.

“Future digital functions will go far beyond the level of voice control and driver assistance systems we are familiar with today,” says the press release. For example, in the i Vision Dee, a Head-Up-Display extends across the entire width of the windscreen, providing a glimpse of the next vehicle generation. From 2025 onward, this innovation will be available in the models of the New Class.

The BMW Group has also refined its use of color-change technology. Having unveiled the BMW iX Flow Featuring E Ink, with the ability to change from black to white, at the last CES, BMW i Vision Dee can now curate its exterior in up to 32 colors.

Digitalization

“With the BMW i Vision Dee, we are showcasing what is possible when hardware and software merge,” said Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG. “In this way, we can exploit the full potential of digitalization to transform the car into an intelligent companion.”

“That is the future for automotive manufacturers and BMW: the fusion of the virtual experience with genuine driving pleasure. At the same time, BMW i Vision Dee is another step toward the ‘Neue Klasse’. With this vision, we are looking far into the future and underlining the tremendous importance of digitalization for our upcoming product generations,” Zipse added.

“A BMW lives by its unparalleled digital performance, explains Frank Weber, board member responsible for Development. “BMW i Vision Dee is about the perfect integration of virtual and physical experiences. Whoever excels at integrating the customer’s everyday digital worlds into the vehicle at all levels will succeed in mastering the future of car-building.”

Mixed Reality Slider

The BMW Mixed Reality Slider, in combination with the advanced Head-up Display, is the digital highlight and central operating control of the BMW i Vision Dee. With shy-tech sensors on the instrument panel, drivers can decide how much digital content they want to see on the advanced Head-Up Display.

The five-step selection ranges from analog, to driving-related information, to the contents of the communications system, to augmented-reality projection, right up to entry into virtual worlds. For example, in BMW i Vision Dee, projection across the entire width of the windscreen allows information to be displayed on the largest possible surface. This info only becomes recognizable as a display once it is activated.

The standard-production version of the BMW Head-up-Display extending across the full width of the windscreen will be used in the models of the New Class line-up from 2025 onward. However, the digital experience begins outside the vehicle, with a personalized welcome scenario combining graphical elements and light and sound effects.

Natural language is the simplest, most intuitive form of interaction, enabling perfect understanding between humans and their vehicles. The headlights and the closed BMW kidney grille also form a common phygital (fusion of physical and digital) icon on a uniform surface, allowing the vehicle to produce different facial expressions. This means BMW i Vision Dee can talk to people and, at the same time, express moods such as joy, astonishment, or approval visually.

E-Ink technology

After BMW iX Flow Featuring E Ink at CES 2022, the BMW Group is now unveiling a full-color version of the E Ink technology. Rather than simply alternating between black and white, i Vision Dee showcases a multi-colored, fully variable, and individually configurable exterior. An ePaper film from the BMW Group’s cooperation partner, E Ink, is applied to the body to create this magical display of color. Up to 32 colors can be displayed.

The body surface of the BMW i Vision Dee is divided into 240 E Ink segments, each of which is controlled individually. This allows an almost infinite variety of patterns to be generated and varied within seconds.

Reductive design

The design of BMW i Vision Dee has been deliberately pared down to focus attention on the digital experience and the DNA of the BMW brand. The exterior is defined by the classic three-box sedan design that forms the core of the BMW brand. Traditional design elements, like the BMW kidney grille, twin circular headlights, and the Hofmeister kink, are reimagined, with phygital icons replacing analog elements.

Inside, digitalization goes hand in hand with the reductive use of materials, operating controls, and displays to ensure nothing distracts from the digital experience and the new feeling of enhanced driving pleasure. For example, the unconventional steering wheel design, with its central vertical spoke, creates touchpoints that come to life when approached or touched and can be operated by moving the thumb. All this supports the principle of “hands on the wheel, eyes on the road”.

“With BMW i Vision Dee, we show how the car can seamlessly integrate into your digital life and become a trusty companion. The vehicle becomes your portal to the digital world, with the driver always in control,” said Adrian van Hooydonk, head of BMW Group Design. “Implemented the right way, technology will create worthwhile experiences, make you a better driver and bring humans and machines closer together.”

‘Neue Klasse’ is the future

“The future of the BMW Group is electric, circular, and digital,” is the claim of the Munich-based company. BMW I Vision Dee represents the digital aspect of this trio and is supposed to be another milestone on the road to the next vehicle generation, the ‘Neue Klasse”. In the build-up toward releasing this all-important line-up, BMW will provide further insights and glimpses of the vehicle concept throughout 2023.