BMW designers work inside out

To celebrate its 100th anniversary in style, BMW in March unveiled its most daring concept since the 2009 super sports car that eventually became the i8 plug-in hybrid.

When the creative minds behind BMW's Vision Next 100 sat down to conceive an autonomous car of the future, their approach was something of a revolution for the century-old company.

Instead of sketching the overhangs, greenhouse or wheel arches in pursuit of the perfect proportions or the sportiest silhouette, they used an entirely different starting point to convey emotion -- and best preserve the fraying bond between driver and car. They began by designing the interior. 

Inside, there is no instrument cluster, analog or digital. Instead the entire windshield acts as a head-up display. No tachometer is needed since the concept drives electronically. BMW designers even can imagine one day replacing the speedometer with a simple color warning, like red for driving too fast.

Dials, buttons and switches have disappeared while air vents were ditched in favor of climate-regulating fabrics. The vehicle can intuitively communicate with the driver through flowing movements on the dashboard surface consisting of around 800 individual triangles -- similar to a flock of birds changing directions. BMW calls it Alive Geometry. 

"In a car, it can be dangerous to distract the driver for too long, so we look at products for inspiration, where the precise communication of information is important for safety," said Holger Hampf, head of user experience within BMW's design department. "If you look at the health care industry, for example, in order to save lives, content has to be presented in a way such that it is immediately understandable."

Whereas the interior was once the realm of the banal, key mega-trends such as autonomous driving mean designers are radically reshaping the customer experience in the cabin. Indeed, it may offer far more potential for brands to differentiate themselves in a competitively relevant manner than exterior design. For example, last year's Mercedes-Benz F 015 study also previewed life as a passenger inside a driverless car, yet the interior concept was entirely different from the Vision Next 100. 

"Before, customers' expectations focused on the essentials; functionality was key," said Karim Giordimaina, Opel's head of interior design. "Now, they want to sit in an environment that they feel great about. The interior is definitely becoming a reason to purchase the vehicle, a motivator."

Giving customers a unique emotional experience even when they are not driving is becoming much more important now that mobility can be booked by the minute instead of purchased outright. 

"Car companies, BMW included, are thinking much more about what people do in a car and how they use it," said Hampf. "I think this comes very much from the question of how to ensure individual mobility remains relevant, most of all for cars that are still owned."