BMW showcases chameleon-like i vision dee digital EV concept at CES 2023

BMW debuts i vision dee with e-ink at CES 2023

BMW introduces the digital emotional experience, known as the i Vision Dee, to joy drivers and passengers at CES 2023. The concept car showcases a futuristic, electric-powered sedan sculpted in a pared-down, neo-retro design language, which is dressed in the color-changing e-ink. It aims to create a stronger connection between people and car, using artificial intelligence and a revolutionary head-up display – extending across the whole windscreen – to radically transform the driving experience.

The BMW Mixed Reality slide allows the driver to shift from analogue to a virtual driving experience

All images courtesy of BMW AG

BMW mixed reality slides driving from analogue to virtual

Stepping inside the mid-size sedan, the BMW i Vision Dee reveals a first in the automotive field. Shy-tech transforms the seemingly clean, textured dashboard into an instrument panel. The BMW Mixed Reality Slide allows the driver to decide for themselves how digital they want their driving experience. A five-step selection controls the new head-up display and what is shown, ranging from analogue to driving-related information, contents of socials, augmented projection, and finally entry into a fully virtual world.

Continuing the theme of shy-tech, the rest of the interior design is reduced to maximize BMW’s motto ‘hands on the wheels, eyes on the road’. Smooth, clean surfaces hide controls and displays until needed. The driving experience is then made even more pure. The steering wheel sees an unconventional, radical re-design, as a central vertical spoke creates touchpoints that can be operated by moving the thumb.

The digital emotional experience begins outside the car though. The headlights and closed kidney grille fuse the physical and digital by acting as a surface for expressions and information. Its exterior design is shaped as a classic three-box sedan. Traditional signatures of the brand, like the kidney grille, circular headlights and hofmeister kink, are recognizable but reimagined. Minimizing lines, the sculpted and continuous surfaces of the car debuts a full-color version of e-ink. Rather than solely black and white as shown in 2022, the concept car changes colors like a chameleon in up to 32 colors.