Keeping up with the times, BMW says that to allow for the vision of BMW Connected – a personalised digital assistant to support individual mobility – in becoming a reality, “a highly flexible service architecture” is needed. Hence, the introduction of “Open Mobility Cloud” at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show.
Employed in the BMW i3, it’s linked to networked systems such as smartphones or smart watches to allow automated control through the Cloud. To demonstrate this, the BMW i3 and a Smart Home are linked to the Open Mobility Cloud. Here, the brand also categorises this new tech under “The Internet of Things.”
Gesture Control Parking is one of those features linked to the Cloud (and Smart Home, for that matter). As to how this works; it allows for the i3 to drive in and out of a parking space via wave gestures, recognised by a smart watch (connected to the Cloud) and transmitted to the car. Said gestures will signal the start of the parking procedure, without the driver needing to be in the i3.
Similarly, to drive out of the parking space, wave gestures can also be performed here. Triggered by the smart watch, at the wave of the hand, it prompts the i3 to reverse out of the space on its own and position itself in the right direction – ready to go.
Next up, is Remote 3D View. The application here allows for drivers to monitor the i3 as it drives in and out of the garage on its own. With four cameras that give a 360 degree view of the vehicle’s surroundings, images taken by cameras are streamed through BMW Connected to smartphones or Mobility Mirror – an intelligent in-home mirror that displays information, including info of the i3, in this case.
Bumper Detect, is another feature elaborated at the show. As its name suggests, it’s particularly useful for small accidents in car parks – to catch hit-and-run incidents or unwary bumps, by the driver at fault. Utilising sensors that detects the bump, the cameras then activate, while providing images through Remote 3D View.
As this happens, the network sends a notification to the driver’s smartphone over BMW Connected and if requested, images can be sent to the driver’s smartphone as well. Furthermore, should unauthorised individuals tamper with the i3, the sensors will detect this, send a message to the driver’s smartphone and also stream images upon request.
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