BMW reveals i Inside Future Sculpture and self-driving 5 Series showcased at CES

BMW took the stage at the 2017 Consumer Electronic Show (CES) with two futuristic ideas. Firstly there is BMW’s perception of how the cabins of the cars in future be showcased through the i Inside Future Sculpture, and the other is the fully autonomous prototype based on the new gen 5 Series.

The sculpture seems to be something derived straight out of a sci-fi movie. With a very radical design it makes use of very interesting materials on the outside, whereas on the inside the cabin is unconventional and futuristic. The centre console is made up of a free-floating dashboard with a continuous screen which is focused towards the driver. Called the HoloActive Touch, the sculpture has holographic controls with gesture response. There’s even a horticultural plants and set of books underneath the passenger seats. Overall design, in a typical BMW fashion, is uncluttered, no-fuss and clean.

There is a BMW Sound Curtain which gives a personalised sound experience to the passengers inside the cockpit and they can relish the large screen to watch any sort of entertainment they want through the in-car connected facility or those screens can be utilised as ambient lighting. The autonomous traits for the future vehicles are demonstrated as well in the sculpture.

Along with it, the new-gen 5 Series based prototype was also showcased which exhibits self-driving and self-parking characters. The prototype is also tested for self-parking without the driver inside, so as to move a step up from semi-autonomous to a fully autonomous vehicle. The onboard gizmos which include cameras, sensors with a powerful computer constantly monitors the roads and surrounding so the driver can delegate the driving responsibility to the vehicle whenever desired, to focus on other ‘important’ activities.

Then there are features like Microsoft Cortana assistance, voice control, gesture controls, automatic sunshades when using connected devices, internet connectivity with the help of BMW's Open Mobility Cloud service. No details of when these features will make it to road-going cars, but now we have a glimpse of what the future holds.