Article by Marcus Siu

BMW has just made it much more difficult for police cars to chase bad guys in the future. That’s if the bad guys decide to drive away in a car that changes the color exterior of a car just like the one that was demonstrated at this year’s CES show in Las Vegas.

The German luxury automaker brought in their all new electric sporty BMW iX showing off its ground breaking concept E-ink technology that practically “wraps” the surface of the car. With just the touch of a button from a smart-phone app, it is able to change the car’s exterior color in just a matter of seconds.

The wrap contain a low voltage electrical connection similar to that of an Amazon’s Kindle, where it is able to change from any two colors, such as from white to black or black to white as in their demo, along with shades of grey in between.

The fact that this technology gives you two colors to choose from, and white and black are the most popular colors in the country for luxury autos according to Kelley Blue Book, it confirms that the King of Pop, Michael Jackson was right. It doesn’t matter if it’s black or white. So, if you’re spouse wants white and you want black or vice versa, it’s a win-win situation for both of you.

Another great feature of having a black and white car is how it adapts to the seasonal weather. As we all know, for example, black cars can be unbearable in hot weather and heat up the interior much more dramatically more than white cars do. Summer weather would be best to drive a white car, and winter weather would be best to drive a black car. Just by switching colors during seasons, its will help the efficiency of the internal heat and air conditioning in the car, which will help prolong the battery life and consumption, which is equivalent to more mileage for the vehicle.

Last but not least, another feature worthy of noting is for those absent-minded drivers who have a hard time locating their car in a parking lot when returning from their chores, which I confess, happens to me from time to time. Instead of relying on a chirp from your key alarm which may give you a general idea where your car is, you can now have it flash in your peripheral vision. That will be a huge plus for many drivers as they traipse to their car.

Though, presently this technology is restricted to two colors and is not quite economically feasible for mass production, it gives us an idea of how E-ink technology might change our lifestyles with custom made personalization. Rumors have it that E-ink is initially looking at personalizing license plates, but imagine in the future where you will be able to change and create the colors on your wall and surface space in your house based on your mood.

For the mostly virtual CES show, which saw a 70% drop in attendance this year compared to the pre-pandemic levels in 2020, the lucky few 40,000 or so attendees that were able to make it there in person were in blown away from what BMW had shown them. Demos like this make it a shame that more people couldn’t see this up close and in person as seeing is believing.

The BMW Theatre Screen is our idea of luxury in-car-entertainment of the future. It brings the ultimate digital experience to the back seats of your car, transferring it into a real driving cinema.

– Adrian van Hooydonk, Senior VP BMW Group Design

WHAT ELSE IS NEW? THEATER SCREEN WITH 4D SOUND

Now that we are in a world where EV’s will be dominating the future, it seems BMW is taking it further by not only letting you personalize the colors on your car, but also putting an entertainment theater right into the comfort of your back seat.

They showed off their new concept of the 8K “Theater Screen” in one of their luxury vehicles, which is a 31-inch, 32:9 ultra-wide panoramic screen that can display 16:9, 21:9, and cinemascope 32:9 aspect ratios. It’s fitted atop the ceiling of the car and is accompanied with 30 Bowers and Wilkins surround sound speakers, including those installed in the back seat of the vehicle, much like how the vibrating chairs in the Dolby Atmos Theaters are built, for a more immersive experience, which BMW describes as “4D” sound.

It’s display has Smart-TV functions, that runs its content through the Amazon Fire TV that is directly built in and uses 5G technology. Your choices are endless. You can listen to music, stream movies, watch TV episodes, and use any of it’s apps for a truly immersive experience. The screen is touch-enabled, but there are also touch controls on each of the rear doors, giving passengers a choice of how they want to interact with the display. Headphones are optional.

As the screen descends down from the ceiling of the car, the roller sun blinds from the side and rear windows close, and the ambient lighting is dimmed, it creates a true cinematic experience, transforming the backseat of the car into a “private cinema lounge.”

BMW promised something similar to its “Theater Screen” concept in the near future for all their cars.

With its presence at CES capturing the headlines for its innovation, the company have demonstrated that they are revolutionizing how things might look (and sound) in the future and have come to the forefront of personalizing the future of automobiles for consumers.