BMW at the Consumer Electronics Show

BMW has developed the “Air Touch” technology that will be present in the 2016 models of the 7 Series.  In an effort to expand this tech and give us another look at what they are doing with the i8, a particular concept car was brought to the show in Las Vegas for us to admire.  This car comes in as a model that uses a certain favorite of the lineup as its base and gives us more of an open feel than you would expect any car to offer you, especially one that is based on high end technology.

At CES BMW brought in the BMW I Vision Future Interaction Concept.  For such a long name you would expect this to be a car that housed you perfectly and did all the driving for you.  This new concept does have a fully self-driving mode that makes for the newest from BWM when it comes to autonomous driving and it offers the “Air Touch” technology which uses sensors to allow you to simply gesture with your hand or finger to control different aspects of the infotainment system and climate controls.  This gives us a new car that take the next step in advancing technology, but it also takes a step backward.

The way this car steps to the rear is the fact it’s brought out as a concept with no doors or windows.  Following along with the i8 Spyder that was featured as a concept three years ago this new concept took the measure a step farther and removed the doors to give us an entirely open air feeling.  Without any way to close up the vehicle this could be one that is simply made to ride in good weather, but it has to have a roof and a pair of doors doesn’t it?

As a production model only this new i Vision Future Interaction Concept does not require closing up but rather getting a much closer look at what is inside.  You can expect to see this car become either the new production version of the i8 Spyder or possibly part of a hybrid sports coupe version.  BMW is definitely on the right track when it comes to technology by installing tech that only requires gesturing in a car that can practically drive itself, but when you want to take control and enjoy the drive yourself, you are more than welcome to with the “Pure Drive” mode that is installed on this beautiful sports car.

Showing this car off at the CES shows us that BMW is closer than ever to the autonomous vehicle of the future.  What will they offer us at this same show next year?  Maybe we will finally see the production model of the new i8 Spyder, or the inclusion of the i8 technology into the SUV lineup.  Either of these choices would get us all talking about the new and improved giving us a great new vehicle to discuss and admire from the first name is athletic driving perfection.