BMW reinvents the steering wheel
New shape-shifting steering wheel adapts to whether you, or the car, is drivingBMW has filed patents for a radically redesigned steering wheel that changes when your vehicle is driving autonomously.
According to the blueprints for the prototype shape-shifting wheel, the BMW steering wheel can morph from a traditional circular shape to an oval shape, thanks to its pivot construction.
Discovered by
, the new wheel has been designed to liberate extra space for the driver when in full autonomous driving mode.It's not the first time that the German car-maker has reinterpreted the humble steering wheel. Back in 2018, the iNEXT concept, which made its debut at the LA motor show, featured a squared-off steering wheel that was claimed to make it easier to switch between driverless mode and normal driving mode.
The square wheel was also claimed to help communicate to the driver if the car was steering, helping a smoother transition from autonomous control to human driving mid-corner.
The beauty of the new BMW wheel is that tests conducted back in 2017 by Stanford University have already proven that drivers take control quicker in an emergency situation if they see the steering wheel changing shape to manual mode.
The test compared a shape-shifting wheel with a traditional steering wheel fitted with warning lights or buzzers.
Expected to require a few more years in development, the advanced robotic steering wheel is unlikely to be introduced on the 2021 iNEXT, but its production debut could co-incide with the introduction of fully autonomous driving aids from BMW.
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