Week 11: New BMW system

People have been using gestures in their cars for years, but in the new BMW 7 Series, they can actually accomplish something besides aggravating other drivers.

Before you get excited thinking about how you might gesture when, say, a driver cuts you off, this “gesture control” functionality is limited. Instead of turning a knob or touching a screen, the driver is able to gesture with a hand or finger, tracing in the air a circle the right for raising the entertainment system’s volume. Tracing a circle to the left lowers the volume. Other hand gestures, captured by a visual sensor in the 7 Series cabin, can be edited to control a limited number of additional functions, such as accepting or declining a phone call.

However, one of the key elements of the marketing campaign behind the new 7 Series was to highlight the introduction of Gesture Control. Aiming at helping you to remain focused behind the wheel, the new feature will be coming in handy when you want to perform various tasks without taking your eyes off the road.

There are five basic functions included such as:

• - accepting phone calls
• - rejecting phone calls
• - raising the audio volume
• - lowering the audio volume
• - 360-degree view of the vehicle

The system uses a 3D sensor installed in the roof lining of the car, next to the rearview mirror. It recognizes the hand gestures of the driver, as long as he keeps his hand between the steering wheel, dash and the gearshift lever. The system works best if you use gestures close to the dash and in front of the iDrive screen.

“What we have introduced is — for very easy use cases — gesture control, which makes life much easer if you want to, for example, turn up the music or turn it back down,” explained Behrendt. “So you can globally use this gesture whenever you’re in any of the screens and turn up the volume, and turn it back down if you like.”

Volume control is just the start though. Phone calls can be declined with a simple swipe to the right or answered with a one-fingered point at the screen. When you’re in parking mode, the range-topping sedan displays a 3D rendering of the vehicle from an external viewpoint, and gestures can be utilized yet again to pan around the car with a simple pinch motion.

Drivers can easily program gestures as well by accessing vehicle settings. Choices include “guidance to home address,” “mute/unmute,” “recent calls,” or “turn off control display,” and BMW offers assurances that there are more to come.

But BMW engineers sheepishly concede that gesture control might prove problematic for demonstrative or passionate drivers who tend to talk with their hands – whether behind the wheel or not. The 7 series also comes with technology that could appeal to environmentally-conscious consumers. The car will be built with several components made from carbon fiber, an advanced material, helping to reduce the weight of the vehicle by nearly 300 pounds and thus reducing the energy needed to propel it.  

Link here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqyCGTzTKio&feature=youtu.be