CES 2015: BMW Demonstrats Gesture Controls And Automated Parking

BMW's new Remote Valet Parking Assistant is just one of a several auto-tech innovations automaker is unveiling at the 2015 Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show.

"Remote parking as well as gesture recognition for occupants using the multi-function center console screen are to us less revolutions and more natural advancements of the kind of tech we have always pursued," says Hildegard Wortmann, head of product management for BMW Group.

"Two worlds converge at CES, technology and automotive, and we are the use case for the former," says Wortmann, adding that while it seems every major automaker has similar connected-car services  a record 10 manufacturers brought their wares to CES this year  there remains the opportunity to stand apart.
In a small conference room off the main lobby, BMW executives demonstrated two features that should become standard in most BMW models in the coming few years. One is a camera embedded in the headliner between the driver and passenger, which captures gestures and translates them into actions on the main screen.

"All cars have steering, but a certain steering feel is something we are known for at BMW," she says with a smile, tossing out the company's longtime tagline, The Ultimate Driving Machine. "Similarly, (automakers) can offer the same technology, but do it in ways that really capture what people want."

For example, if a call comes in while you're driving, taking a finger and moving toward the screen answers the call. Swiping your finger to the right declines the call. When the screen is set to music mode, simply making a circle in the air with your index finger increases or decreases the volume. One kiosk over, a staffer showed off an ordinary Samsung tablet that boasted connectivity to a BMW of the near future.

 

For example, if a call comes in while you're driving, taking a finger and moving toward the screen answers the call. Swiping your finger to the right declines the call. When the screen is set to music mode, simply making a circle in the air with your index finger increases or decreases the volume. One kiosk over, a staffer showed off an ordinary Samsung tablet that boasted connectivity to a BMW of the near future. The point is to provide rear-seat passengers presumably well-heeled business execs but perhaps also bored kids  with full access to the car's various systems via the touchscreen tablet.

 

Changing a seat's position or its heating or cooling properties is just a few taps away, as is selecting a movie or album to play. The notion is that people are so used to controlling such actions with a screen that they'll defer to that over gadgets affixed to the car's doors or consoles.

That approach is catching on. Mercedes is showcasing a Pebble smartwatch that can control many of the car's main features, while Audi showed an Android-based tablet that also would reside in the car for use by passengers.

"You could ask is all this relevant, and maybe for some customers, they say this is all too much," allowed Wortmann. She noted that it would be difficult to guess which BMW models might be offered without the latest tech innovations. "You could say our 7 Series model is for older people and perhaps they wouldn't want all these things, but in China the average age of our 7 Series buyer is 37 years old, and you know they'll demand it," she says. "So as a company, we have to evolve our whole range."

That range now includes BMW's two new halo cars, the sleek hybrid-drive i8 sports coupe and the comparatively humble i3 electric car. And watching that small fry park itself truly was a vision from the perhaps not-so-distant future. Using four lasers that search around the car at all times, the i3 uses a pre-programmed map of the parking structure to easily seek out an empty space and park.

At which point, the i3 will lock itself up and alert you by smartphone or smartwatch, says Werner Huber, head of driver assistance at BMW Research. "Parking your car we all know can be such a waste of time, so we think there's a very real use for a vehicle that you exit and send on its way," he says. "When you're finished with your meeting you just say to your smartwatch, 'BMW, pick me up,' and it makes its way down to you."