The 2016 BMW 7-series, expected to be launched in October, will be sporting an exclusive Gesture Control feature that will be in command of the car’s infotainment system.
Currently, the BMW cars boast superior technologies which include the touchscreen controls, steering wheel knobs, voice commands and central dial. However, with BMW 7-Series Gesture Control most of the tasks pertaining to the infotainment system can be carried out by mere use of hand signals.
A total of six gestures, which have to be made above the iDrive dial, will be identified by 3D sensors to accomplish the required task.
Some of the interesting gestures include rotating the fingers clockwise or counter clockwise to control the volume up/down, receiving a call by aiming the centre screen with a finger or dismissing a call by stroking the hand to the right and even squeezing the fingers together and moving right or left to switch to a 360 degree view of the vehicle on the centre screen.
Another preprogrammed signal, two pointed fingers, can be allocated to any one of the following tasks : Mute/Unmute, Next title/station, Recent calls, Notifications, Control Display On/Off or directions for home address.
The tests reveal that BMW 7-Series Gesture Control works pretty well, with a few exceptions when signals are not interpreted by the sensors properly.
To see Live demonstration of the feature, check out this video by Motor Authority: