BMW unveils the i Vision Dee concept at CES 2023

CES has been buzzing with EV announcements this year. While Sony and Honda announced their collaborative EV project ‘Afeela’, BMW unveiled its new concept EV ‘i Vision Dee’ which packs a lot of groundbreaking features. ‘Dee’ stands for ‘Digital emotional experience’, the digital companion within the EV that offers way more than other voice assistants.

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BMW i Vision Dee: Changing colours, hyper-real tech, and more

The BMW i Vision Dee takes customisation to a whole new level with its 240 e-Ink panels. These panels are capable of changing the colour of the body surface of the EV within seconds. Not only that, you can program each e-Ink panel individually to display different patterns on the exterior body surface. This tech was featured in the BMW iX Flow at CES 2022 but has been fully utilised in the i Vision Dee. 

The i Vision Dee features the classic BMW three-box sedan design. It also gets signature BMW elements like the kidney grille, twin circular headlights and the Hofmeister kink. These elements have been reimagined to fit a more futuristic vibe. The analogue parts have been replaced by phygital icons. 

Moving on, the most interesting feature of this concept EV is its digital personality, the Dee. This drive assistant can adapt to the driver’s habits, suggest destinations, and provides information, news, calendar entries and more. The BMW Mixed Reality Slider can be used to customise the Head-Up display and display content in five different levels – analogue, driving-related information, communication system content, augmented reality projection, and VR. This feature will be used in NEUE KLASSE models from 2025 onwards.

As the name suggests, the Dee is also capable of displaying emotional intelligence, as it uses cameras and sensors to identify the rider as they approach the car. Once the identity of the rider is confirmed, Dee can automatically open up the doors and display a welcome graphic on the shut-off kidney grille at the front. The grille is also capable of displaying up to nine different facial expressions – from joy to approval to amazement. 

In his keynote address at CES 2023, Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, mentioned, “With the BMW i Vision Dee, we are showcasing what is possible when hardware and software merge. In this way, we are able to exploit the full potential of digitalisation to transform the car into an intelligent companion. That is the future for automotive manufacturers – and, also, for BMW: the fusion of the virtual experience with genuine driving pleasure.”

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