F 015 Luxury in Motion - A Glimpse into the Future

First unveiled at the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show, the F 015 Luxury in Motion made its official debut in Asia on Sunday to similar fanfare. The vehicle brings together the automaker's visionary ideas for the future of autonomous driving, and in many ways showcases the transformative power of the automobile.

Much of this stems from the automaker's vision for the future and its mission to provide a greater quality of life for all city dwellers.

As urbanization continues, the space available to individuals is set to become more and more limited. But as the F 015 makes clear, with the advent of autonomous driving, a mobility revolution frees drivers from the stresses of unwanted driving, and frees them to take full advantage of the time they spend on the road.

Of course, automation is only tip of the iceberg. The vehicle has also grabbed huge attention thanks to its unparalleled design.

Taking the current mobility revolution one step into the future, the F 015 focuses on two interpretations of what Mercedes-Benz calls its "modern luxury" design concept - intelligence and emotion.

Meanwhile, interaction - among passengers, the vehicle, and the outside world - forms another part of the vehicle's design, and is most noticeable in the lounge-like interior, where a variable seating system features four rotating leather-covered chairs set in curved mounts of highly polished aluminum. Amazingly, these chairs can be configured in a face-to-face arrangement, making conversation and collaboration among passengers easy.

Passenger can also interact with the vehicle through gestures, eye-tracking or by touching the high-resolution screens.

Communication is also not confined to the interior. When driving, the vehicle communicates and interacts with the outside world through exterior LED modules both at the front and rear. These LED fields turn blue if the vehicle is driving autonomously or white if the driver is in manual control.

The F 015 Luxury in Motion is a strong proof of Mercedes-Benz's pioneering spirit in creating innovations and its dominant position in cutting-edge automotive technologies. It is also the visionary answer of the brand to a rapidly changing world. In particular, it once again proves that the German automaker is creating advanced technology today to deliver an autonomous driving zero-emissions vehicle.

As one can imagine, this futuristic concept car is stunning car enthusiasts and even the tech hobbyists. Its innovations make the F 015 Luxury in Motion a bold step by Mercedes-Benz, and while a production variant is far from hitting Shanghai's streets, it still forms a tantalizing window into the future of urban driving.

(China Daily 04/20/2015 page26)