Over the past few decades, the trend within the automotive industry has been to separate the owner of a car from the operations associated with maintaining it and fixing it whenever something goes awry. However, it seems that there may be hints of a reverse process, re-embracing the customer hands-on approach, as BMW revealed augmented reality glasses that turn anybody into a fast-thinking mechanic. As the video posted below eloquently shows, when you wear said glasses, and designate a part that needs to be removed, they will then begin highlighting what needs to be taken apart in order to reach the problem component, also showing the correct way to go about doing it. Written instructions are also displayed, and audible ones can be enabled too. In theory, you could be a total noob and instantly look like you know what you’re doing. Animations will be also be implemented in order to show the user’s progress on the various separate tasks that need to be tackled. Check out the video below, if you think this is a bit too futuristic and doesn’t yet work. Please note that it’s actually a very old video, first posted some six years ago, and we don’t really know how much progress has been made, if any, since then… (hence the poor quality). By Andrei Nedelea Story References: Daily Mail via BMWblog, Source: Carscoops
BMW Virtual Glasses can Turn Anybody Into a Mechanic
Over the past few decades, the trend within the automotive industry has been to separate the owner of a car from the operations associated with maintaining it and fixing it whenever something goes awry. However, it seems that there may be hints of a reverse process, re-embracing the customer hands-on approach, as BMW revealed augmented reality glasses that turn anybody into a fast-thinking mechanic. As the video posted below eloquently shows, when you wear said glasses, and designate a part that needs to be removed, they will then begin highlighting what needs to be taken apart in order to reach the problem component, also showing the correct way to go about doing it. Written instructions are also displayed, and audible ones can be enabled too. In theory, you could be a total noob and instantly look like you know what you’re doing. Animations will be also be implemented in order to show the user’s progress on the various separate tasks that need to be tackled. Check out the video below, if you think this is a bit too futuristic and doesn’t yet work. Please note that it’s actually a very old video, first posted some six years ago, and we don’t really know how much progress has been made, if any, since then… (hence the poor quality). By Andrei Nedelea Story References: Daily Mail via BMWblog, Source: Carscoops
Driving 700 Miles in India in a Range Rover Hybrid Is not as Bad as You'd Think
By Dan Mihalascu: To demonstrate the capabilities of the newRange Rover Hybrid, Land Rover took three prototypes on a 53-day 10,000-mile expedition from the factory in Solihull, UK, to Mumbai in India where parent company Tata Motors is based. The carmaker invited journalists along the Silk Trail expedition, with the following video filmed by Auto Express during the last leg – a 700-mile (1,126-km) trip through India. So how is it like to drive the world’s second most-populous country? According to Mat Watson, you have tokeep the eyes wide open as potential hazards can come from virtually anywhere. Although traffic is chaotic, driving in India in a Range Rover is an interesting experience as you’ll find out from the video posted below. Source: Article
This Volvo Trucks Ad with Jean-Claude Van Damme will Split Your Mind
By Dan Mihalascu: Volvo Trucks continues its series of creativecommercials with a new ad featuring Belgian martial artist and movie star Jean-Claude van Damme. Called “The Epic Split”, the commercial has Van Damme perform one of his world-famous splits between two Volvo FM trucks, as they are driven in reverse! Just like in the previous hamster commercial, the new ad promotes the new Volvo Dynamic Steering system. According to Volvo Trucks, the stunt is a world first and it couldn’t have been done without the precision and stability of the new steering system. “The stability and control are so good that you can reverse a truck over a long distance with very high precision, which is exactly what we've had to do in this film. It had to be perfect - right down to the last centimetre," said Jan-Inge Svensson, the engineer behind the development of the system's software at Volvo Trucks. And indeed it was, as you can see in the spectacular video posted below. Source: Carscoops