Thin is in: BMW's conceptual 'Neue Klasse' dash displays

BMW’s I Vision Dee styling — or, perhaps, minimalist unstyling — turned a lot of heads at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show. There was much discussion about this “Neue Klasse” concept’s possibilities, due to reach buyers in only three years, and much to say about the car’s interior.

But not much to see.

In a keynote speech at the show, Oliver Zipse, chairman of the board of management of BMW AG, showed an image, certainly one that qualifies as a teaser, that revealed a narrow, wide screen sitting at the base of the windshield. It shows a clock and a speedometer — all digital of course — and an apparent radio readout of “Take On Me” (A-Ha fans, take note). There’s a shadowy glimpse of a fat steering wheel in the foreground. There’s a head-up display in there as well, flashed onto the windshield glass.

According to a press release issued for CES, the information displayed on the new screen can be selected in stages by using a "mixed reality slider": driving-related information; contents of the communications system; augmented-reality projection; and "entry into virtual worlds." Dagobah, perhaps?