See What's Driving the Future: Continental Cockpit Vision

"As soon as users are immersed in our vision, they will find out that the cockpit of the future will adapt smoothly and dynamically to the specific driving situation," explains Dr. Frank Rabe, head of Continental's Instrumentation & Driver HMI business unit. During automated driving, for example, certain controls and displays will remain hidden. They will become visible and accessible when requested thanks to the changing, intelligent interfaces. "This creates a completely flexible, all-encompassing cockpit," says Rabe.

For Continental, the Cockpit Vision includes a wide array of functions for comprehensive human-machine interaction that can dynamically and flexibly adapt the vehicle interior to the specific situation. For example, in its mixed-reality demonstrator, the company will be showing a retractable steering wheel, and mirror displays that replace the traditional exterior mirrors and which extend only when required, as well as expanded functions on its screens and augmented-reality head-up displays. With smart control, visitors can try out a special input device for automated driving that clearly and intuitively assists drivers in the transition to the role of users. The device provides information as to whether the vehicle will drive itself or can be driven on the current stretch of road and is used to control vehicle maneuvers. Additional highlights of the presentation include morphing interfaces that can reveal or hide displays as required, for example, or a windshield that can be used as a monitor to show information about certain places in the area or to play films.

Control center for the cockpit of tomorrow has already been developed

To make the vision a reality, Continental has already developed the necessary hardware, which controls all the vehicle's input and output devices, plus mobile devices with a single electronic control unit (ECU). The Integrated Interior Platform is an important step toward a comprehensive human-machine interface and links the vehicle cockpit which acts as a central computer in itself, with the driver and his or her mobile devices, other road users, infrastructure and the cloud.

The vehicle is therefore a digital companion and is completely interconnected at all times. The IIP thereby manages to operate functions relevant to safety, such as instrumentation, as well as functions from the cloud or infotainment, securely and stably using a single piece of hardware. By merging hitherto separate domains in the cockpit of the future, not only is Continental laying the groundwork for a fully updatable interior, but the driver can use functions flexibly across all applications, even if they were previously restricted to the instrument cluster or the displays on the center console. Information that can be positioned anywhere, and the option to move content dynamically, mean that there is now nothing standing in the way of personalized cockpits.

To develop Cockpit Vision 2025, Continental took an approach of strategic foresight, looking at the development of trends and the future. This involved initially identifying seven automotive scenarios for the year 2030 that differed in terms of attitudes to vehicle ownership, environmental awareness and price-consciousness within a society, for example. The next step was for the researchers to determine which scenario was most applicable to each market and to hold workshops in six countries over three continents to generate the most diverse visions possible for the various scenarios. Panels of experts compared the content obtained by these processes with current trends and forecasts by visionary insiders in the industry and added such contributions as trend and technology analyses, country profiles and information on applicable legislation. "This produced fascinating ideas for new products, services and design elements, all focused on one thing: the driver's user experience. We are going to be showcasing the promising visions with our Cockpit Vision 2025 study and will now be gradually putting them into practice for real," says Rabe in conclusion.