BERLIN: No you don’t need to hire a driver or to be tired to have a long drive as Mercedes has unveiled its vision of a driverless car – and the interior looks a lot like a living room.
The German car giant says the car of the future will be all about comfort – and the four-seater design even has a coffee table built in for passengers, who face each other. The front seats of the car can be turned around and passengers can spend their time relaxing or working.
‘With this visionary interior concept we are defining the luxury of the future,’ said Gorden Wagener, Head of Design at Daimler AG.
The pivotal feature of the innovative interior concept is the variable seating system, with four rotating lounge chairs that allow a face-to-face seat configuration.
This enables the front passengers to turn around and talk directly to the other passengers while on the move. Or to focus their attention towards the front as necessary for manual driving, with an extendable steering wheel.
‘We are convinced that autonomous driving will be a central factor on the way to comfortable, accident-free driving,’ says Dr Herbert Kohler, Daimler’s head of corporate research and sustainability.
‘Autonomous driving relieves pressure and stress in driving situations usually regarded as tedious, for example in tailbacks, in inner-city areas or on long journeys. At the same time, it opens up new ways in which people can make the best use of their time on the road.’
Mercedes says the interior becomes a ‘digital living space’ which is comprehensively networked as an integral part of the intelligent vehicle system.
The occupants are able to interact intuitively with the vehicle by means of gestures or touch displays. The system monitors eye, hand and finger movements of passengers, which can be used to control the car’s functions.
It also has screens which can either play films or show the outside world. ‘The vehicle’s surroundings, whether pedestrians, other road users or the local buildings, are also brought into the interior and portrayed as fluid all-round information on displays.
However, the firm has refused top show the car’s exterior yet. ‘With our innovative interior concept of a luxury lounge for an autonomous vehicle of the future, we are giving a specific outlook on our ideas of future mobility,’ said Dr Kohler. ‘This interior concept forms an essential part of a new overall vehicle concept which we will be unveiling at the CES in Las Vegas.’
HOW IT WORKS
The pivotal feature of the innovative interior concept is the variable seating system, with four rotating lounge chairs that allow a face-to-face seat configuration.
This enables the front passengers to turn around and talk directly to the other passengers while on the move.
The system monitors eye, hand and finger movements of passengers, which can be used to control the car’s functions. It also has screens which can either play films or show the outside world.
