BMW looks at touch sensitive smart fabrics

BMW is one of the German automakers that have stirred the hearts while keeping pulses racing with their range of vehicles. Of course, they have had their fair share of misses, but those are rare and few in between amidst all the hits. It is still the yuppie vehicle to purchase in many countries regardless of the continent that you are on, and their motto of it being the “Ultimate Driving Machine” certainly holds true for many of us (unless, of course, you are able to afford one of those super exotic brands). Well, BMW intends to push their claim as the ultimate driving machine even further by developing a new interface technology that will see action in its futuristic looking cars, calling it ‘Smart Fabrics.’

This new piece of technological wonder hails from the Polytechnic School of Montreal, and is a new flexible, polymer-based fiber which can be woven into existing fabrics. Since it is one huge capacitive pad, it is capable of registering touches and swipes, all the while alternating current that is sent through the network of fibers. Here is a quick view of what you could actually experience – imagine running your finger along your seat fabric so that you can make adjustments to the amount of lumbar support, or even swipe on your dashboard ahead of the passenger in order to open up the glovebox. Something tells me repairing such a glovebox opening mechanism is going to be far more expensive than the regular ones you see in the market right now…

Edwin Kee
Categories: Transportation
Tags: bmw