How many screens is too many screens: BMW takes on the elephant in the room with a giant HUD

The automotive sector is heading towards a cabin full of screens. How many screens are enough? How many too many? BMW seems determined to bet on them without any regret. His new Head Up Display (HUD) it is confirmed. And he is giant.

He Head Up Display was born with the intention of projecting information related to driving on the windshield. In reality, it is a thin transparent sheet that, in a game of perspectives, seems to send the information to the driver on the glass itself, with the clear objective that they do not have to divert their eyes from the road to know what speed they are driving or if they are on. adaptive cruise control, among other data.

Now, BMW has announced that in 2025 we will see its new Head Up Display, a panoramic projection of information across the entire width of the windshield. If you can’t grow tall, there’s an environment that was untapped: width. A new digital environment that the Germans have dubbed BMW Panoramic Vision.

In a formula reminiscent of the notch on an iPhone or a Mac, in two years BMW will have a darkened space in the lower part of the windshield that guarantees projection of information in an “extremely clear image that is always visible”, in company words.

The bottom line is that not just the driver take advantage of the information displayed there and that it is the passengers who, at a glance, can know some details related to infotainment, navigation or the state of the vehicle.

Where is the limit?

For some time, BMW has been immersed in an evolution to turn its cabins into independent multimedia environments. The design of its dashboard and the integration of the curved screens They are inevitably reminiscent of an office desk more than the classic interior of a vehicle.

It is something that we were able to verify in the BMW iX, a car whose seats seem to be designed so that passengers can be abstracted from driving and traveling. The central screen is extremely clear, it has additions such as an interior camera and the seats have their own speakers to guarantee the best sound experience and the rear seats have chargers for their mobile phones close at hand.

And the concept shown during the past Las Vegas CES makes it clear that BMW wants to make its brand a benchmark in the digital environment, adding surfaces to display information, more tactile environments and everything desirable to make the car an environment that goes far beyond the traditional.

But it is not the only brand premium or luxury who is opting for this strategy. Mercedes and her awesome Hyperscreen They are the best example of this, feeding the driver and passengers a constant bombardment of information and multimedia options. Without forgetting the huge screen for the rear seats of the new BMW i7.

The question is: where are the limits? Mazda has been clear so far: the screens are a distraction to driving and have to limit themselves. Some voices from the wealthiest segments are clear that the uncompromising commitment to screens is a mistake for the coming years, causing cars to look old before their time. And even at BMW they see this as a transient trend.

At the same time, general manufacturers are also choosing to use touch screens (increasingly in size) as an indispensable claim. The recent announcement of the Kia EV9, with three screens in front of the driver, demonstrates this. It is not by chance that even the lowest ranges have touch screens.

The work is huge for manufacturers. Peugeot demonstrates in its new 408 that excessive bombardment of information can cause the driver to feel overwhelmed, even with well-structured data. At the same time they will have to maintain these digital environments for the next few years. But when will these digital environments stop updating? Will the performance of the oldest vehicles weigh down the new ones?

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