[CES 2024] BMW unveils in-vehicle digital infotainment, including augmented reality glasses

BMW will introduce augmented reality glasses at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2024, which will be held in Las Vegas, USA from January 9 to 12, 2024, and will provide future information such as BMW Operating System 9, generative AI, remote parking, etc., which provides a new infotainment experience. Innovative development projects on the theme of digital experiences in BMW vehicles are presented.

“BMW is both the ultimate driving machine and synonymous with the ultimate digital experience,” said Frank Weber, BMW Group Board Member and Director of Technology Development. “At this CES, BMW will present more content, “We will introduce more customization features and more games,” he said. He added, “We will also present a blueprint for a future that will further improve the interaction between people and machines with fully integrated augmented reality and powerful yet reliable artificial intelligence functions.”

First, the BMW Group will introduce wearable augmented reality (AR) glasses at CES 2024. Augmented reality glasses, created through research collaboration with technology startup XREAL, enhance the driver’s driving experience. Various information such as route guidance, hazard warnings, entertainment content, charging station information, and parking assistance visualization are integrated into the real environment and provided in augmented reality.

The BMW Group has been working to develop AR and MR technology since 2008. The augmented reality view function currently installed in BMW and MINI models displays real-time images with augmented additional information on the display to the driver for optimized guidance when using navigation.

Additionally, the BMW Group introduces BMW Operating System 9, which provides a new infotainment experience.

Vehicles equipped with the BMW Operating System 9 can use not only in-vehicle on-demand functions but also third-party apps in various categories such as music, news, and games. Accordingly, there will be more games that can be enjoyed in the car, and passengers will be able to play games in the car using a separate controller in the future.

In addition, the BMW Group is unveiling a remote parking function jointly developed with Valeo. Using this function, the driver simply leaves the vehicle at the designated drop-off area, and the vehicle automatically searches for an empty parking space and completes parking in that space. It also supports the function of automatically exiting the parking space and moving to the pickup area so that the driver can receive the vehicle. This solution is based on autonomous driving systems and remote valet parking systems.

In addition, visitors can directly experience the remote parking function of the BMW iX. Since remote operation enables perfect control even in situations that are difficult to respond to with a fully autonomous driving system, such as unfamiliar and complex parking environments, it is expected to be used in event venues, airports, and logistics sectors in the future.

BMW Group and Amazon present the BMW intelligent personal assistant equipped with generative AI based on Alexa’s large-scale language model.

The BMW Group has long used artificial intelligence to process the voice of its BMW intelligent personal assistant. Since the introduction of the first BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant in 2018, verbal interaction has become an integral part of driving a BMW. Currently, BMW customers can control a variety of vehicle functions through the voice assistant, allowing them to keep their eyes on the road without taking their hands off the steering wheel.

In addition, the next-generation BMW intelligent personal assistant function, which has become more powerful using Amazon’s ‘Alexa personalized assistant’ solution, is scheduled to be introduced to vehicles equipped with BMW Operating System 9 within this year.

Sangjin Lee daedusj@autodiary.kr