BMW’s ready to show off its contactless touchscreen in-car experience at CES 2016

Last January at the consumer electronics show (CES), BMW showed off its new concept of gesture control technology, and this year at CES 2016, the luxury automobile manufacturing company is gearing up to introduce another Vision Car, a concept which will demonstrate what the interior and the user interface of cars of the future will possibly look like. 

Sensors inside the car will be able to record hand movements in the area between the center console and the interior mirror, allowing drivers and passengers to change the focus on the surface of the large panorama display. Image source: Ubergizmo.

BMW’s current 7 Series technology supports a handful of gesture controls such as turning the volume up or down, but now the company’s ready to raise the bar with AirTouch, its new contactless touchscreen experience. According to BMW, the new system will enable the touchscreen display in its car to be operated like a touchscreen, just without having to actually make contact with the surface.

Sensors inside the car will be able to record hand movements in the area between the center console and the interior mirror, allowing drivers and passengers to change the focus on the surface of the large panorama display. Once they have arrived on the on-screen item to be selected, drivers can reportedly perform a simple confirmation by pressing a button on the steering wheel, or passengers can simply press a button on the door.

Better yet, the AirTouch menu will reduce the number of steps required to make a selection. The intelligent system will recognize which selection and control steps are needed, and will display them in advance. Ultimately, the goal with this technology is to reduce distraction so drivers can better focus on the road, while at the same time having the freedom to access the features the infotainment system offers.

Although BMW hasn’t revealed which of its cars will be the first to be equipped with AirTouch, if history tells us anything, it’s likely to arrive in one of the company’s high-end vehicles before making its way down the road to other models.

Source: Ubergizmo