Like it or not, we live in a digital age and technology is getting insanely better by the day. At one time it was all tech companies leading the way to our digital future, but in recent years, automakers have started getting on the wagon and introducing their own new and wild technology. Most of the time this is associated with the cars they build, but at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show, BMW has reminded us that it’s not always about the car. No, it’s about staying connected whether you’re in your home or in your car. And, never more was that evident than when BMW powered up and displayed its newest piece of tech: the BMW Connected Window.
BMW Connected is a suite of systems that help you organize your “mobility agenda,” plan your next trip, and update information between your personal devices and your BMW so that everything you need is always right at your fingertips. The BMW Connected Window takes that one step further with a digital wall panel that is something right out of science fiction movies. It displays a digital view of your city, provides the day’s agenda on a timeline, and shows you the best route to take from stop to stop in your daily routine, all while taking real-time traffic information and weather conditions into account. The only thing it is missing is a digital doctor that can diagnose illness before you walk out of the house, but give them a little time for that one.
The system takes all of this information and sends it to all of your personal devices, be it a smartwatch, smartphone, or even your BMW prior to your morning departure. In the future, the system will be able to take daily routines into account and help plan spaces of free time where you can fit in special appointments or other tasks outside of your usual daily routine. The system’s main input is gesture control, which gives you the ability to zoom in on the map, expand meetings to review more information about them or look at real-time traffic information in-depth before taking off for the day. There’s no word as to what the Connected Window will cost, but something tells me that you’ll eventually be able to bundle it up right along with the purchase of a new BMW.
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Why it matters
In one sense, all of this connected technology stuff really does create a privacy concern. After all, if BMW Connected has access to every appointment you have each day, the route you take, and where you go, they have a lot of information about your life. But, BMW believes the world will see even more digitalization in the future, so it’s getting on the wagon early. And, to be honest, I think they have the right idea. I’m not exactly a fan of all my information being on any type of cloud where it can be hacked, stolen, and used against me, but if we’re going to continue advancing as a species, we need to embrace technology like this. I don’t know about you, but the view of the cities in the images we have here look a lot better than the view from any window of my house. What do you think? Cool tech or too much? Let us know in the comments section below.