[Gannu_1]

BMW showcases the next generation iDrive systems with touchscreen displays and gesture based controls at the CES 2015 being held at Las Vegas.

Dubbed Control Display, their new iDrive screen features the touchscreen tech everyone’s been waiting for. That’s not all though.

Sure, it’s going to be nice to touch the center screen to get it to do what you want but considering the size of current BMW’s, reaching it might be an issue. Therefore, the engineers created yet another innovation: non-contact gesture recognition.

The gesture has to be performed in between the area limited by the gear lever, steering wheel and Control Display (or iDrive display) because it is recognized by a 3D sensor mounted in the roof.

The new iDrive system might make it into the the MY2016 G11 7 series.

Source: AutoEvolution

Never knew that the dash-mounted displays onboard the Bimmers were not touchscreens. This is good news.

[vineethvazhayil]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

BMW showcases the next generation iDrive systems with touchscreen displays and gesture based controls at the CES 2015 being held at Las Vegas.

Looks like the next generation of in car infotainment systems are going gesture based and HUD based. VW also showcased some concepts similar to this at the CES with their Golf R model. VW Golf R at CES. I'm pretty sure Audi is working on something of their own on top of the base VW version.

A little bit OT, but I have a keen interest in this area. My cousin and a couple of his friends have a startup based out of Startup Village in Cochin, Kerala. They are planning a beta launch of a product in February that will integrate with your smartphone and give the consumer an augmented reality based HUD system with gesture control. Their company is called Exploride. I think the big players may offer tech like this built in to new higher end cars, whereas they are targeting more of retro-fitment and lower end cars. Will be an interesting space to watch.

[GKR9900]

Had always felt that iDrive controls are much more practical and intuitive than touchscreen controls (maybe that's why BMW never bothered to include them till now). Gesture control is the next big trend it seems.

Originally Posted by vineethvazhayil

My cousin and a couple of his friends have a startup based out of Startup Village in Cochin, Kerala. They are planning a beta launch of a product in February that will integrate with your smartphone and give the consumer an augmented reality based HUD system with gesture control. Their company is called Exploride. I think the big players may offer tech like this built in to new higher end cars, whereas they are targeting more of retro-fitment and lower end cars. Will be an interesting space to watch.

That surely is a promising startup! Count me in as a potential customer

[Akshay1234]

I certainly hope the iDrive controller is still there. After using iDrive for a few years, it has progressed well and become very easy to use. I've never felt the need for a touch screen.

BMW has really been updating the iDrive almost every year now, and this looks promising. I certainly hope its not difficult to use or buggy like the first iDrive was, considering this is all new.

[Gannu_1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH3JsYrMzus