The Ultimate Companion!

The most keenly followed Tech Event in the world, Consumer Electronics Show, or simply CES, took place in Las Vegas this week. Normally CES is place where Consumer Tech companies used to showcase their cool new gadgets like mobiles, smart watches, displays/TV's, gaming consoles, wearable, and more. Traditionally automakers would unveil their new concepts at marquee auto shows like Frankfurt, Paris or Detroit. But as the technology upends the auto industry, it is no surprise that BMW chose CES instead of an auto show to make major announcement regarding it's direction for future cars.

If you have missed the show, I would highly recommend to watch the keynote from Oliver Zipse, BMW CEO and Chairman of Management Board. (You can skip to 22:53 for the presentation.)

He laid out the direction for the Next-generation of BMW cars - "NEUE KLASSE" - to be available staring 2025. The show itself was very well produced with a cool story, characters, live presenters, color-changing, smiling and winking companion car on the stage, and also Arnold Schwarzenegger!

There were many elements of the presentation, but below 3 were the key highlights for me:

1. Auto industry has now clearly transformed into Consumer Tech

The central narrative of the presentation was about software and hardware, digital and physical. There was hardly any mention of the core features of the car which we are all used to i.e. Power, Torque, Acceleration, 0-100 in X seconds, etc. This may not be a surprise to most, but if there were any doubts in anybody's mind regarding the transformation of cars into EV's and Software-Defined Car, then it should be settled with this presentation. 

To me, this is not just about new product generation, but a fundamental transformation of the auto company itself. The one which considers the physical product and the digital aspects together - right from the concept and design stage. Oliver Zipse highlighted this saying "you cannot separate the software from hardware development". And further added that "one does not need to write all the software by yourselves, rather be able to integrate different software components together quickly.". The message was clear - Software is at the very core, and inseparable from the car itself.

What we see with cars is happening with many other traditional industries too - essentially turning them into tech companies who make hardware (physical products), with the software and data at its core.

2. Transformation of User Experience to Physical + Digital (+ Virtual)

It's not to say that previous generation cars did not focus on user experience, but their focus was largely on physical aspects - power, maneuverability, seating comfort, mileage and safety. Yes, in-car entertainment and navigation systems became important, but they were mostly "add-ons", and not the heart of the car. While on one hand cars are transforming to Electric, on the other hand there is a paradigm shift of the overall car experience itself: Driving modes (self, assisted, or autonomous?), Hyper-personalization and Emotions, Social Media Integration, and Mixed Reality on the head-up display. One of the motives behind this hyper-personalization also seems to be to promote car ownership amongst millennials and Gen-Z, who were clearly seen to be preferring shared mobility, at least till the pandemic hit.

In terms of mixed-reality, Oliver Zipse said, "when you cannot tell the difference anymore between what's real and what's virtual". To me it seemed little over the top to virtually bring-in your friends/family/pets into your car to experience the journey together, but it is fascinating to see the possibilities with fusion of physical, digital and virtual dimensions. Again, we could see similar transformations with other industries and consumer products with Metaverse and beyond.

3. At the heart of it, it's all about AI and Data

While introducing "Dee" - Digital Emotional Experience, BMW did a good job in defining one of its key principles for AI: "Artificial Intelligence will support people, not replace them.". 

They talked about how future cars will have digital memories, more personalized and emotional than just having your name on the welcome screen, and how it will know you better day after day. Essentially it is about understanding the driver through data to create a more human-like experience for them - "transforming from a Helpful assistant to a Faithful companion". While they do not spell it out clearly, I believe that BMW will focus AI to augment or assist the driver, than on autonomous driving.

Enabling this means collecting and processing all possible data about the driver, their social connections, preferences, likes-dislikes for entertainment & food, favorite places, and much more. And using AI and ML models to create hyper-personalized unique experience for them - and even enabling their social contacts to virtually participate in their drive.

 

There are still many questions and possible concerns like Privacy on the collected data, Distraction caused through mixed reality, and the most importantly the Price tag that will come with it. But it is very exciting to see how Software, AI and Data are transforming BMW from "The Ultimate Driving Machine" into "The Ultimate Companion".

 

Love to hear what you think.

------

Motivation for Data Surround: While different analogies are used for Data - be it the New Oil, New Gold, New Currency or New Asset - one thing is certain that Data is omnipresent, and practically touching every aspect of our life. As a technology and data enthusiast, this is my attempt to understand and interpret new interesting developments around us, which are shaped by Data.