Hyundai Mobis – the South Korean automakers locomotive supplier arm, is all set to arrive at the IAA in Munich with the M.Vision X concept, assuring to fit well within the Mobility theme of the show.
Hyundai Mobis made it a self-driving vehicle to accommodate four passengers. The M.Vision X concept has windows that can change into displays, which passengers can use to watch videos. In reality, almost every horizontal surface is a display, with the concept allowing occupants to continuously be amused by something, delivering 360 degrees of screening surfaces.
If it looks like an appetizer of our entertainment-consumed future, where even windows become displays for our amusement, then why do we struggle so much for self-driving vehicles, you would ask if we can’t watch our favourite videos on Youtube while the car drives itself.
That prospect seems contact-free too – possibly seeing a lasting pandemic condition – assessing from the concept bringing into play gesture and voice controls.
“The core solution of M.Vision X is the vertical cockpit in the centre of the interior, which looks like a square pillar,” the company comments. “On each of the four sides of the integrated centre cockpit is a 28-inch display. This integrated centre cockpit communicates with passengers in a contact-free fashion using the gesture recognition functions. As a result, passengers can control all driving-related functions, e.g. the autonomous driving mode, AI speakers and infotainment. There is also a sterilization function that uses UV lighting to automatically sterilize the vehicle once the passengers get out of the car. This new technology is also a feature of M.Vision X.”
You can consider the M.Vision X concept utopian or dystopian as you think about pandemic-friendly touchless controls for every function. It also reiterates several lounge-like concepts that came from South Korean and Japanese automakers about 20 years back. That’s the time when no one had worked on semi-autonomous vehicles.
Considering that, the M.Vision X concept seems to be a more solid idea, particularly because the Level 4 autonomous systems were introduced some years back.
As Level 4 autonomy is slowly but cautiously becoming a part of transport on a small scale, we will possibly be able to see self-driving, geofenced shuttles in about two years. They will probably work as self-driving taxis.
The M.Vision X concept seems like a robotaxi that can have an application on a wider scale. We have already seen some prototypes running in a few cities across the world.
“We worked hard to sublimate the changes in life people have had to cope with in the post-Covid 19 era with new mobility technologies,” stated Vice President Cheon Jae-Seung, head of the Fundamental and Advanced Lab of Hyundai Mobis. “The new mobility platform, as presented by Hyundai Mobis, contains the spirit of technical exploration, which also enables people to share their thoughts and feel the joy of everyday life.”
Source and Picture: C&D