BMW tease 'AirTouch' Concept for 2016 Consumer Electronics Show

BMW tease ‘AirTouch’ Concept for 2016 CES

BMW will have at least one concept at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas next week, previewing ‘AirTouch’ technology.

Next week sees the start of the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, with car makers expected to arrive en masse to show their vision of the future of electronics in a cars.

One of those car makers will be BMW, and it already looks like the BMW i8 Spyder will be revealed in production guise at the show which may, or may not, be the platform for BMW’s ‘AirTouch’ technology preview.

If the i8 Spyder is to be on the floor at CES, it seems a bit unlikely it will also be the platform to display future BMW technology, so we assume there will be something new too- a fresh BMW ‘Vision’ Concept.

Whatever the platform is for the show, it will preview what BMW calls ‘AirTouch’, which is essentially the next generation gesture control, allowing control of stuff like entertainment, Sat Nav and communication functions without having to physically touch the device.

AirTouch is actuated by pressing a button on the steering wheel (or by a button for the front passenger) which activates sensors on the dashboard to respond to hand movements, which are then used to control the functions, with menu screens loading related functions to make selection quicker and easier.

Although BMW aren’t saying AirTouch is ready to go in to a production car, it seems likely it’s not too far away; last year’s show debuted Gesture Control which found its way in to the new BMW 7 Series within a few months, and AirTouch could go the same way.

So if, sometime later in 2016, you see a BMW driver ‘waving’ at you as you approach, he may just be desperately trying to tune in to Radio 4.