Audi concept car is an autonomous escape complete with VR headsets
Audi's newest concept car looks like your average, well, Audi sedan. But after an inside look, you'll realize it's not your average luxury vehicle.
First, you'll see there's no steering wheel or foot pedals in the fully autonomous Audi AI:ME. Then you'll notice the VR goggles. The 3D OLED screen, which is controlled by eye movement and voice, also stands out. That's when you'll realize this is less a standard vehicle and more a moving space you can chill and relax in. Or at least, that's Audi's goal for its latest autonomous concept idea.
The idea behind the AI:ME, unveiled at CES Monday, is to create a new space outside your apartment, office, or even car. The typical car ride is a gruesome commute requiring full attention to the road. But with this autonomous vehicle, the car is supposed to feel like an oasis.
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When in full autonomy mode (known as Level 4 autonomy, which doesn't require human attention to drive) the car's driving instruments retract, opening up a "living" space. The large screen along the front dashboard picks up your eye movements from two small infrared cameras. Just look at what you want or need. For touch control, there are buttons along the doors.
Eye tracking lets users communicate with the car as it anticipates your needs: Hungry? Look at the menu, order with your eyes, and the car will reroute to get the food. The car is also intuitive, they say, able to anticipate the temperature you'll want or the color of interior lighting.
When autonomously driving around, there's no need to look at the shabby world around you. Just pull on one of the two VR headsets and immerse yourself in a mountainous escape that uses the car's speed and positioning to create an alternate reality in the headset.
Who needs the road when you can escape to a calming mountaintop? (Beach people, you'll have to wait.)
Topics CES
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
