High-Tech cars: a vision of the future?

There was a time where cars were simply cars, a transporting vehicle. There was not even a radio. However, from the looks of the concepts that were on show at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, technology in cars is becoming ever more advanced. Manufacturers such as BMW and VW used this opportunity to show off their visions of the future. And my do they look techy.

BMW showed us their version of the future with a car called the...future vision. Well, its full title is the BMW i Vision Future Interaction Concept. And, despite looking a lot like a simple i8 Spyder, it offers us a look a the interior of future BMW's, in theory at least. This car is in theory totally autonomous, and because of this the seats face slightly inwards and the steering wheel retracts when the car is in self-driving mode, getting out of the way for you to do, well, whatever. The HD screen in the car wraps around the whole passenger side facia, and the system itself uses a more advanced version of the gesture control that is currently use by the 7-series. Very cool.

VW offered another version of the future, but this one wasn't as aesthetically pleasing. It's called the Budd-e, and serves to connect your car to your home. To achieve this it uses data services in order to realise that you are on your way home and therefore turn on the lights and heating. This concept also uses advanced gesture control, but this time it means that you can open the doors with a swipe of the hand. Also, the screen vibrates according to how hard you are pressing the buttons, meaning there is less need to take your eyes off the road. Just a shame it looks weird.

But the concept that took technology to freaky levels was the Faraday Future FFzero 1. This car definitely looks the most futuristic, but also contains some very odd tech. For starters, it has your mobile phone attached to the middle of the steering wheel, and consequently no screen. The reason for this is that Faraday Future wants an app to control all interior functions, and therefore there is no need for a screen. Another strange feature is the fact that the cockpit (which is single-seated) is in a 'low-gravity environment', requiring the driver to wear a helmet that provides oxygen and water. Freaky.

So there you are. Some of the various visions of what the future of motoring might look like, as well as the tech that will be found in them. It's now up to time to decide which vision will be the most accurate.

Nev