BMW Group Technology Office USA Celebrates 25 Years in Silicon Valley with the North American Debut of the BMW Vision Neue Klasse Concept.

• Advanced R&D facility is one of seven BMW Group offices located in key technology hotspots around the world focused on emerging technologies, user-centered thinking, and product design to envision the future of BMW Group products.
• BMW Group Member of the Board of Management, Development, Frank Weber to headline a panel discussion entitled “Humanizing Tech,” moderated by David Pogue.
• BMW Group Technology Office USA opens its doors to media, stakeholders, industry leaders, and partners for a series of immersive workshops, exclusive product previews, and mixed reality, multi-sensory interactive driving experiences. 

Mountain View, California – December 7, 2023… The BMW Group Technology Office USA is celebrating 25 years in Silicon Valley with an invitation-only event featuring immersive workshops, exclusive technology demonstrations, and exciting mixed reality, multi-sensory driving experiences at Levi's Stadium. The celebration will be highlighted by the North American debut of the BMW Vision Neue Klasse design concept and a panel discussion entitled “Humanizing Technology,” with insights from BMW Group Member of the Board of Management, Development, Frank Weber. Weber will be joined by Neuroscientist & Technologist Poppy Crum, Head of Trust & Safety, AI Strategy, Product Management & ML Operations at Airbnb, Naba Banerjee, and Head of Product at Meta for Work Micah Collins. The conversation will be moderated by renowned technology expert, David Pogue.

“Cutting-edge technological ideas with a lot of potential, developed in the world’s beating heart of high-tech, and perfected in our worldwide innovation network. This is how our BMW Tech Office in Mountain View works,” said Weber. “I am very excited to see what visionary impulses for our ground-breaking innovations our team will keep on creating in the future.”

As an advanced R&D facility, BMW Group Technology Office USA is focused on emerging technologies, user-centered thinking, and product design to envision the future of BMW Group products.  A team of creative thinkers, visionaries, and engineers are charged with exploring what’s possible, and pushing the envelope to create the best, and most innovative experiences for BMW Group customers. For the first time the BMW Group Technology Office USA opens its doors to media, stakeholders, industry leaders, and partners for a look “under the hood” and showcase of some of their past, present, and future projects.

“For the past 25 years, the BMW Group Technology Office USA has relentlessly pushed boundaries to explore possibilities, shape the future, and deliver automotive technology that exceeds expectations,” said ​​Claus Dorrer, Vice President, BMW Group Technology Office USA. “Our team from diverse backgrounds takes great inspiration from living and working in the heart of Silicon Valley, in close proximity to where so many of our partners are based, and technology trends are born.  We’re proud that the work we do here helps inform, inspire, and improve BMW Group products and customer experiences around the world.”

Global Network. 

BMW Group Technology USA became the first BMW Group technology research and development office located outside of Munich when it first opened in Silicon Valley in 1998. Originally based in Palo Alto, the office moved to its current location in Mountain View in 2011. 

Today, BMW Group Technology Office USA it is part of a global network of BMW Group technology offices, which are strategically based in key technology hotspots around the world and a critical aspect of the company’s open innovation approach. In addition to Silicon Valley, and Munich, locations include Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Tel Aviv, and Tokyo.

The goal and collective mission of this expansive network is to collect local insight, identify emerging technologies, and work with key partners to envision the future of BMW Group products and customer experiences.

The North American Premiere of the BMW Vision Neue Klasse. 

First shown at the International Auto Show (IAA) in Munich in September, the BMW Vision Neue Klasse vehicle will make its North American debut on Thursday, December 7.  Built on the three pillars of electrification, digitalization, and circularity, the Vision Neue Klasse represents a “New Class” of BMW vehicles which will begin arriving in 2025.

Immersive Workshops.

In a series of workshops, participants will get a behind-the-scenes look at some of the past and present projects developed at the facility, including:

• The AR/VR Journey and its Evolution: Explorations in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), and potential future applications -- including hands-on demonstrations of early product prototypes.
• Intelligent Personal Assistant (IPA):  A preview of BMW Group’s next generation in-vehicle voice assistant technology.
• Innovation Mindset: Insight from the office’s team of explorers, creators, and builders, and how being located in the U.S. and Silicon Valley impacts their work, featuring a rare look at some previously unreleased projects.
• Electric Vehicle Battery Development: A discussion on future electric vehicle battery technology with BMW Group’s independent venture capital firm, BMW i Ventures, focused on their strategic investments in this space and collaboration with BMW Group Technology Office USA.

Interactive Driving Experiences.

A series of interactive driving experiences at Levi’s stadium -- from a mixed-reality driving experience and a multi-sensory dynamic scent journey, to a first-ever in-car demonstration of Meta’s Quest headset.

• Mixed Reality Driving Experience: A demonstration of howBMW can use mixed reality technology to bring real cars onto virtual racetracks. In this interactive experience, participants will get behind the wheel of a BMW M4 and drive on a closed course while wearing a VR headset to experience the merging of the virtual and physical worlds.
• Innovation Mindset – Intelligent Dynamic Scent Journey: Attendees will go on a dynamic scent journey during this demonstration of project developed at BMW Group Technology Office USA, that went unreleased.  Passengers will enjoy a multisensory experience that is shaped by the context of the drive and the world around them. 
• Mixed Reality Meta Quest Driving Experience: BMW Group and Meta are pioneering research and exploring potential use cases for extended reality devices within the digital vehicle ecosystem. This is a first-time, in-vehicle demonstration of the ability to accurately display stable virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) content to passengers in a fast-moving car, even when making turns, going over speed bumps, and accelerating. This was accomplished by incorporating IMU data from a BMW car’s sensor array in real-time into the tracking system of Meta’s Project Aria research glasses. After transferring the tracking system to a Meta’s Quest 3 device, the researchers enabled a series of stable “car-locked” gaming, entertainment, productivity, and meditation experiences.

• Digital Key Demonstration: This session will discuss BMW’s critical role in developing an early proof of concept for using smartphones as a digital vehicle key, which has enabled an industry standard and opened the door for additional vehicle-related smartphone functionality.

 # # #

BMW Group in America

BMW of North America, LLC has been present in the United States since 1975.  Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003.  The BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations for the BMW brand of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, the MINI brand, and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars; Designworks, a strategic design consultancy based in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country.  BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is the BMW Group global center of competence for BMW X models and assembles the X3, X4, X5, X6 and X7 Sports Activity Vehicles. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 349 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers,146 BMW motorcycle retailers, 104 MINI passenger car dealers, and 38 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers.  BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group’s sales headquarters for North America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

Online: www.bmwgroup.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BMWGroup

Twitter: http://twitter.com/BMWGroup

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/BMWGroupview

Journalist note: Information about BMW Group and its products in the USA is available to journalists on-line at www.bmwusanews.com, www.miniusanews.com and www.press.bmwna.com.

# # #