BMW i Vision Dee, a concept car which can change colour, made its official debut at CES 2023. Dee stands for Digital Emotional Experience and aims to “create an even stronger bond between people and their cars.” The automobile is a mid-sized sedan, a classic BMW infused with a wide range of tech innovations.
BMW i Vision Dee showcases what is possible when hardware and software merge, thereby exploiting the full potential of digitalization to transform the car into an intelligent companion.
Dee uses E Ink colour shifting technology. The concept’s body is divided into 240 E Ink segments, each of which can be controlled individually. 32 colours across the spectrum can be displayed by drawing on a small yet unique voltage to create shades from a colour palette used in traditional printing.
Dee is also ‘Phygital’. It can talk back to you, whilst simultaneously projecting an image of the driver’s avatar on the side windows. An expansive head-up display takes over the windshield— a wonderfully expansive head-up display (HUD) stretches across Dee’s entire windshield.
The Future
Dee showcases a feature called phygital touchpoints. If you put your fingers near the door panel, a virtual switch appears, and it disappears when you move your hand away. This means the automakers will need lesser components in the future.
Dee is an electric concept. It is a part of BMW’s Neue Klasse architecture that will “bring humans and machines closer together”. The HUD will come to production cars that ride on the company’s Neue Klasse electric platform in 2025.Â
Sources: Interesting Engineering / BMW / Continental / CES 2023