Between Nissan’s Esflow concept and this BMW Vision ConnectedDrive concept, it’s becoming pretty clear that “clean fun” is the theme of the forthcoming Geneva Auto Show. But BMW isn’t just signaling the production look of its EfficientDynamics sportscar… the Vision ConnectedDrive also demonstrates BMW’s dedication to managing the coming information overload created by ever more technologically-dependent automobiles. Autocar reports:
BMW knows that the day is rapidly approaching when on-board sensors will deliver so much data to the driver that innovative ways are needed to present the information so it can be absorbed and acted upon quickly.
Intended to replace the conventional instrument cluster, the next-gen HUD will display info like road speed and sat-nav directions in three-dimensions.
This tech allows different information layers to be superimposed on top of one another, in turn allowing the driver to display the required data in the foreground, while ghosting less significant info into the background.
By providing this ‘optical depth of field’, BMW reckons it can provide the driver with multiple additional information sources without having to redesign a car’s fascia to take an additional display screen.
Just another step towards the day when Graphical User Interfaces become as important to cars as styling and performance.
[UPDATE: Welcome Instapundit readers!]
Yup, it sure does look, uh, future-y…
Just another step towards the day when Graphical User Interfaces become as important to cars as styling and performance.
Which part of the carburetor is that?
The “gooey” is the part you have to spray down and wipe away before the car will drive properly.
Great, now that they’ve succeeded in blocking the view out the back with sheet metal they are going to block the view out the front with flashing lights.
LeBaron: BMW’s modern-day version of the medieval “iron maiden” torture device. By the way, I assume your screen name refers to a Chrysler LeBaron you own or once owned. I owned a 1992 LeBaron convertible. Great, classy car. Bright red, of course.
ZACKMAN: I currently own a ’95 GTC. It’s been a nice car, certainly fun to drive, but in the 15 years I’ve owned it it’s had more than it’s share of “issues”. At least I haven’t had to face the transmission problems. Yet.
And what’s left of the paint is white.
All the techno-HUD talk, and no photos of it?
I always maintained that the Z4 looked like a Z3 that had been on a McDonalds binge then tried to get into some tight pants. This thing looks like a Z4 that has unsuccessfully had lipo and body sculpture. It really does not look nice.
Is it just a coincidence that this infantile Mach V wannabe looks like a scaled up version of the Alfa Brera riding toy pictured below it on the landing page?
Forget the looks of the car, the topic is adding information for the driver. That’s just adding sensory overload and distracting the driver from what’s going on outside the car and his role in negotiating through it. Just as car buyers cringe at rows of unmarked black buttons, they’ll eventually express their displeasure with extraneous data they don’t need to get from point A to point B. Technology can produce a dizzying array of innovations, but it doesn’t all have to be employed at once. Car makers who keep it clean and simple will eventually be rewarded with greater sales, and those who insist on pummeling drivers with massive amounts of feedback will learn the meaning of the word overkill.
Dein Hosenstall ist offen.
I’ve had my license for 40 years. It’s nearly 50 years since I learned how to shift with a stick, and it is 50 since I learned to operate the gas, the brake, adn the steering wheel in a moving car. I still love to drive as much as I did at 17, and at 7. And I just want to drive when I get into a car.
I owned a Lebaron convertible, 4cyl-turbo, red – really nice car. That futura-bmw looks like a pos.
I had two older Pontiac Grand Prix’s (Prixei ?) that had heads up display. I found it thoroughly annoying. You find yourself staring at it too much. Rather than keeping your eyes on the road, it has the opposite effect. Maybe it’s just me. Also, the windshield glass has to be absolutely flawless, of the display will be blurry or distorted. Plain analog gauges simply laid out work best for me.
I’m thinking the same thing. early 90’s Roger Smith era GM heads up display. It seems like these things go in fads. Back in the 80’s the digital dash became popular, then back to gauges, now it’s kind of a hybrid of both.
I’m sorry that you find flashing lights distracting. Anyone under forty should have no problems, though.
the windshield glass has to be absolutely flawless, of the display will be blurry or distorted
so that alone will make u to change a windshield every yr!
I have a HUD in my Grand Prix. The only time I’ve had to change the windshield was when a rock hit it. Heck, I don’t even clean the thing.
If anything I’ve had problems with the display unit itself coming loose, and those problems were fixed using a screwdriver and a paperclip.
What a hideous car. The whole “Doomsday Machine” (Star Trek, TOS) look…well, I just don’t get it.
By a fluke of the scroll wheel, the last line on my screen was the heading above the picture. When I scrolled again, I actually said ‘GAAAAAAHHHHH’. Out loud. At work. This exclamation was repeated when my fellow cubicle dwellers popped up to see what was wrong. Hey BMW – Batman called, he wants his daily driver back!
I’m kind of happy to see that BMW wants to move the 1952 concept of the auto/driver information interface. Too bad this is only a concept.
Of course, given the comments here, I’m pretty sure that there’s some drivers who think the only instrumentation should be a fuel gage and a speedometer. All shifting should be done by ear (and of course the automatic transmission doesn’t exist anymore.)