Mercedes-Benz has revealed the F 015 Luxury in Motion, an autonomous concept vehicle that frees up the driver to do other things while on the road. The research car is designed to give us a glimpse of the future of transportation and mobility through an "immersive user experience."
The futuristic exterior may look straight out of a science fiction film, but the interior is the main attraction for this vehicle. Described by Mercedes-Benz as a "mobile living space," the F 015 attempts to give us a look at how autonomous vehicles could change the future of transportation.
The interior features rotating chairs for a lounge-like setting, as well as multiple ways for the car to deliver information about the trip, the vehicle, and the outside world. The car includes high resolution touch screens that allow passengers to interact with the vehicle through gestures and touches. These screens, which are capable of 4K display, can be used to play music, look at photos, and contact friends. We wonder how long it would take someone to figure out a way to bring a 4K gaming rig into the vehicle to pass time during some of the longer trips.
Adding to the futuristic look of the car, the exterior features large LED displays, as well as audible tones and spoken instructions that communicate with the vehicle's surroundings. The F 015 is also very friendly to the environment, as it can reach nearly 700 miles on battery and electricity alone, meaning that during this time, the vehicle will emit no pollution whatsoever.
Even though on the surface, this news appears to have little to do with gaming, the ideas are exciting. Not only could we see ourselves racing against these cars in games like Forza and Gran Turismo, the interior just begs to be modded to have a ton of gaming technology installed for long trips. Imagine having a long drive ahead of you, but instead of having to compile a good road trip soundtrack, you just have to figure out which game from your accumulating backlog you want to knock out during this trip. The possibilities truly are endless, and hint at a very exciting future.
Of course, the F 015 Luxury in Motion research car is just that: a car that only exists to research and develop certain concepts for possible application in the likely distant future. Because of this, don't expect to be able to pick one up the next time you're in need of a new ride. Luckily, this tells us that automakers are thinking very seriously about the next evolution of cars and what that next step could hold for us. On the flipside, however, we don't even want to think about how much a car such as this would cost.
[Source: Mercedes Benz, Wired]