Stephan Durach

The New BMW iDrive --- Applied Processes and Methods to Assure High Usability

With iDrive the BMW Group introduced in 2001 a revolutionary HMI concept, which was firstly able to cope with the constantly increasing number of functions in the automobile. It was designed to optimally support drivers in their various tasks while driving. The basic iDrive concept can be described as separating driving functions from comfort functions as well as separating displays from controls. This basic concept together with a highly mounted display ensures that controls can be reached with no need looking at them and that the central display is easy and quick to access. The trendsetting iDrive idea has been widely adopted in the automotive industry. The following article outlines the iterative design and evaluation process that led to the new generation iDrive introduced in 2008 with the new BMW 7 Series. The basic challenge was to come up with an evolution of the iDrive concept by improving it without loosing the revolutionary approach to automotive HMI design.

Smart Automotive Apps: An Approach to Context-Driven Applications

Objective Driven trough the new paradigm of application development for mobile devices, customers expect to have a device that can be updated with the latest and greatest features. Many useful applications have emerged from the existing ecosystem of SDKs, App Stores, etc. These applications are accessible anywhere, anytime, based on proper data connection. In the context of cars, one should be able to use apps without touching the mobile device. Cars offer a comprehensive infrastructure of control elements and screens optimized for usage whilst driving. Cars also offer a large amount of context knowledge from its sensor system. Leveraging the additional computing power and data connection of mobile devices in combination with the car enables a complete new level of features. Methodology An abstract interface between the car and the mobile device is implemented. The application itself is running on the mobile device and dynamically creates new features in the car. It is seamlessly integrated into the in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) system, which displays its features on the car screen. The application is controlled by the car interaction elements. By using this abstract interface the application on the mobile device has access to the sensor system and the audio system of the car. To avoid driver distraction guidelines and review procedures have been established. This is why applications can only connect to vehicles with proper authentication credentials. Results The IVI interface solves the objectives by offering (1) a “Remote HMI” interface that allows external applications to create their own HMI represented on the car display. User interaction is transferred to an external application through a notification service. (2) a “Car Data Server” interface sending vehicle sensor data to the mobile device. (3) an “Audio Service” playing audio in the car. Based on these technologies, new features such as MINIMALISM Analyser (a trainer for efficient driving) or Driving Excitement (a dynamic display of driving data, e.g. lateral/longitudinal acceleration, torque) are being developed. Furthermore, integrated versions of existing applications, e.g. music services like Pandora and MOG have been released. The IVI extension was introduced as an option for BMW Group vehicles in August 2010 (MINI)/March 2011 (BMW). At present, this option is compatible with the Apple iOS platform.