In 2024, at the International Consumer Electronics Show, BMW Group showcased its new digital technology, unveiling the group’s direction for human-machine interaction development to the audience. Attendees had the opportunity to experience the fun of augmented reality glasses during the driving process and interact with the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant for quick response and operational guidance in human-vehicle interaction. Mr. Webofan, the director in charge of R&D at BMW Group, said, “BMW is not only synonymous with the ultimate driving machine, but also represents the ultimate digital experience. At this exhibition, we will present even richer digital content and experiences. Of course, we will also focus on the future, achieving the perfect integration of augmented reality technology and showcasing powerful and reliable artificial intelligence technology in human-machine interaction.” Embracing the future of wearable devices – enhancing the driving experience through XREAL Air 2 augmented reality glasses.
At CES, BMW Group will showcase for the first time how to enhance the driving experience using augmented reality glasses. Users can personally experience glasses equipped with augmented reality technology while driving through Las Vegas. After putting on the glasses, they will intuitively experience how “XREAL Air 2” seamlessly integrates navigation instructions, danger warnings, entertainment content, charging station information, and parking situations into the real environment in a visual way. This technology, based on highly integrated software architecture, integrates driving experience, information and entertainment data with relevant data from vehicle electronic electrical systems and BMW’s cloud, and provides customers with a comprehensive digital interaction experience through the perfect integration of hardware and software. In the coming years, as technology advances and more affordable entry-level products are introduced, AR and mixed reality devices will become increasingly popular. In the future, AR and MR devices will complement in-car displays, providing drivers and passengers with richer information content and further enhancing the emotional experience of human-vehicle interaction. Since 2008, BMW Group has been committed to the research and development of AR/MR technology, and has explored possible applications of wearable displays in research projects. BMW engineers, together with development partners, have successfully demonstrated stable augmented reality and mixed reality technology to passengers in moving vehicles for the first time. Even in complex driving situations such as turning, road bumps, or acceleration, the displayed images can still accurately and clearly reflect the current environment. All of this is made possible by the precise connection between the tracking system of AR/MR devices and the vehicle’s sensor data. BMW Group has accumulated years of experience in AR/MR devices and actively shares the latest achievements with the public. In the rapidly expanding field of augmented reality applications related to vehicles, BMW Group has submitted nearly 70 invention patents to the patent office in recent years.
BMW Group is widely praised for its outstanding performance in the field of digital technology and has always been a leader in driving the standardization of innovation in the digital field. BMW Group looks forward to collaborating with more partners in the AR/MR field to jointly establish industry benchmarks for connecting XR devices with vehicles in the consumer electronics industry. Based on the Alexa large language model, BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant will become your car expert. BMW Group has always been committed to working with more partners to bring innovative future travel experiences to customers. Currently, based on the generative artificial intelligence technology provided by Amazon’s Alexa large language model, BMW Group is creating a new generation of BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant.
At this year’s CES, BMW Group demonstrated a new voice assistant based on a large language model. The new BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant becomes a BMW car expert, providing more personalized assistance to passengers and answering vehicle-related questions in a timely manner. Through voice interaction, users can experience a more emotional digital experience without having to use their hands. The large language model is an artificial intelligence model that processes human language at a high level and generates corresponding responses. BMW Group is actively exploring and advancing the application of this technology in BMW models through continuous testing and iteration with partners, aiming to bring a safer, more reliable, and smarter interactive experience to passengers, making vehicles more user-friendly. Since the debut of the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant in 2018, voice interaction has always been a core feature of the BMW operating system. While providing convenience, voice interaction also better embodies BMW’s driver-centric philosophy, allowing drivers to focus more on driving. With the support of the large language model, the upcoming new BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant will provide even more powerful features and will bring more personalized intelligent interaction experiences tailored to the needs of the Chinese market, further showcasing the luxurious electric travel experience of BMW that “delights the body and mind, and touches the heart.”