By Otsile Kadiege

Last month BMW shared a few posts on their social media platforms teasing some form of advanced artificial intelligence. Fast forward about a month later the Munich-based automaker recentley unveiled the i Vision Dee (Digital Emotional Experience) concept at the 2023 CES (Consumer Electronics Show). The BMW i Vision Dee is a mid-size sedan which showcases the brand’s future digital experience, both inside and outside the vehicle.

Minimalist design

Outside, the BMW i Vision Dee’s design is deliberately minimalist to focus attention on the digital experience and the DNA of the BMW brand. That said, the exterior is defined by the classic three-box sedan design and traditional design elements, like the BMW kidney grille, twin circular headlights and the Hofmeister kink which have been re-imagined with phygital icons replacing analogue elements giving the BMW i Vision Dee its own digital, but human, character.

One of the exterior highlights of the BMW i Vision Dee is the full-colour E Ink which we first saw on the BMW iX Flow back in 2022. Rather than simply alternating between black and white, the i Vision Dee concept showcases a multi-coloured, fully variable and individually configurable exterior with up to 32 colours.

The main attraction

Minimalism continues inside the i Vision Dee concept’s digital cabin to ensure nothing distracts from the digital experience. One of the main attractions inside the i Vision Dee concept is the advanced Head-Up display. When activated the Head-Up display can project  across the entire width of the windscreen allowing  information to be displayed on the largest possible surface. In this way, the BMW Group demonstrates the huge potential of projection technology and BMW i Vision Dee visualises how an advanced Head-Up-Display could also be utilised in the future for the display and operating concept. 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 theNeue Klasse from 2025 onwards.

The BMW Mixed Reality Slider, in combination with the advanced Head-up Display, is the digital highlight and central operating control of BMW i Vision Dee. Using shy-tech sensors on the instrument panel, drivers can decide for themselves how much digital content they want to see on the advanced Head-Up Display. The five-step selection ranges from analogue, to driving-related information, to the contents of the communications system, to augmented-reality projection, right up to entry into virtual worlds. In parallel, dimmable windows can also be used to gradually fade out reality.

Another noteworthy feature is the unconventionally designed steering wheel which features touch-points that come to life when approached or touched and can be operated by moving the thumb. These phygital touch-points control selection of the content projected onto the windscreen and, together with the Head-Up Display, thus support the principle of “hands on the wheel, eyes on the road”.

BMW’s future

According to BMW, the group’s future is electric, circular and digital. BMW i Vision Dee represents the digital aspect of this trio and will be another milestone on the road to the next vehicle generation, the Neue Klasse. The BMW Group will provide further insights and glimpses of the revolutionary vehicle concept of the Neue Klasse over the course of 2023.