BMW looking to use smart fabric to bring deep user customization to cars

Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: Science, Transportation

As automotive technology is advancing, things that we found novel are becoming a thing of the past. Remember when the first iPhone came out? People flocked to the phone like moths to a light initially. Now, iPhones are about as common as shoes, having lost their novel appeal.

Now apply the same analogy to automobiles. When automakers incorporated navigation systems into vehicles, everyone wanted one. Heck, even hip hop artists were rapping about it in their music. So the question remains to ask is ‘What technology will excite the new car buyer?’ BMW may have found the answer for the next big thing. Smart fabric is what they’re conceptually attempting to bring into cars. Not familiar with smart fabric? Let's break it down after the jump.

Smart fabric is produced by a few smart folk up north in Canada. The Polytechnic School of Montreal to be exact. The fabric is woven into existing material and would allow the user to control function by touch, or, we assume, pre-programmed preferences. Think about it this way--each back needs support for comfort, but no two backs are the same, nor are two drivers the same. The smart fabric would recognize the driver, and would proceed to modify the car to the specific preferences of that person. Things like seat position, initial audio volume, and air temperature are just two of many things that could be automated.

However, BMW is only in the beginning stage of this project, so it is not yet determined when the concept will be released. The benefits of smart fabric would change the way we drive and interact with our cars.

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