The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is where the digital experience of the future is shown. The BMW I Vision Dee is a middle-class sedan that looks like it came from the future. It has a new, simple design language. The name "Dee" stands for "Digital Emotional Experience," which is exactly what the goal is: to make people feel even closer to their cars in the future.
The next BMW Class will have voice control and driver assistance systems that are better than what we have now. In 2025, for example, the BMW Head-Up Display will cover the whole width of the windshield. As the BMW iX Flow featuring E Ink showed at last year's CES in Las Vegas, color technology will soon make it possible to change the color of the car's exterior, now with up to 32 different colors.
As the main control, the BMW Mixed Reality Slider slowly turns the windshield into a big window into a digital experience universe. Using pressure sensors called "Shy Tech" on the dashboard, the driver decides what to show on the advanced Head-Up Display. There are many choices, from analog driving information to an Augmented Reality projection and a virtual universe. Mixed reality uses different senses and gives the driver a completely new way to experience driving.
For 20 years, the BMW Group has been improving the Head-Up Display. In the BMW I Vision Dee, information can be shown on the largest possible surface by projecting it across the whole width of the windshield. This shows how much technology could change the way displays and operating systems work in the future. From 2025 on, the models will use the version of the Head-Up Display that is ready for mass production.
The digital experience starts before you even get in the car, with a personalized welcome scenario that uses graphics, lights, and sounds. The headlights and the closed BMW kidney grille make a phygital surface, which is a combination of a physical surface and a digital surface. This lets the car make different facial expressions. BMW I Vision Dee can talk to people and show emotions like happiness, surprise, or thanks. The driver's favorite avatar can also be shown on the side window of the driver's door using BMW I Vision Dee. All of this, plus the fact that the doors open themselves, makes for a very personal welcome.
After the BMW iX Flow with E Ink made a big splash at CES 2022, the BMW Group is now showing off the BMW I Vision Dee with E Ink technology in full color. Instead of switching between a black and white exterior, it now shows a color that can be set differently for each person. There are up to 32 different colors on this magical color display. The outside is made up of 240 E Ink segments that can each be controlled separately. This makes it possible to make a wide range of patterns in a matter of seconds.
The BMW I Vision Dee is made to look small on purpose so that the digital experience and the BMW DNA can stand out more. BMW's classic sedan design is what makes up the outside. Traditional design elements like the BMW kidney grille, two circular headlights, and the Hofmeister knuckle are reinterpreted with digital icons in place of analog ones. This gives the BMW I Vision Dee its own digital but also very human personality.
Inside the cabin, materials, controls, and screens are kept to a minimum to ensure that nothing takes away from the digital experience. The steering wheel is made unusually, with vertical spokes in the middle. These create touch points that light up and can be used by moving the thumb. Together with the Head-Up Display, these touch points let you choose what is shown on the windshield. This helps you keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road.
The future of the BMW will be electric, circular, and digital. The BMW I Vision Dee is the digital part of this trio, and it will be another important step to the next model generation, the New Klasse, which will come out in 2025. In 2023, the BMW Group will give more information about the revolutionary ideas behind the Neue Klasse.
