BMW i8 Spyder at CES 2016 showcases new technology

[nggallery id=2238 template=customlinks]

BMW has unveiled an i8 Spyder at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show showcasing a multitude of new technology for future BMWs, and perhaps a new i8 Spyder.

We thought BMW would be unveiling a production version of the i8 Spyder at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show. And maybe they have.

But BMW aren’t claiming the i8 on the floor in Las Vegas is a production take on the i8 Spyder Concept, but it is most certainly a showcase for BMW’s future technology, appropriately dubbed BMW i Future Interaction.

Top of the list is BMW’s AirTouch – teased last week – which is an evolution of the Gesture Control on the new BMW 7 Series, which allows both driver and passenger to activate gesture controls for vehicle functions which are delivered on a new heads-up display or a new 21″ panoramic display in front of the passenger.

That 21″ panoramic display shows content from BMW’s Open Mobility Cloud, information which alters based on the drive mode that is in operation, something this concept also previews – BMW’s autonomous abilities.

Three modes are available – pure drive, assist and auto – with pure drive leaving the driver in control, assist delivering help with optimum journey times and auto seeing the car take control without help from the driver.

The i8 also loses its mirrors, instead of which there are three cameras projecting images on to the in-car displays and also give warnings based on any hazards it recognises.

With AirTouch likely to be heading for a production car very soon, it seems highly likely that much of the technology the i8 previews will, in one form or another, find its way in to production soon.