Munich/San Francisco. The BMW Group is set to
revolutionise driving pleasure with the BMW Intelligent Personal
Assistant. From March 2019, BMW drivers and passengers will be joined
by an intelligent, digital character that responds to the prompt “Hey
BMW”. This will mark the start of a new era for the BMW Group in which
drivers will increasingly be able to operate their car and access its
functions and information simply by speaking. The personal assistant
will also be able to assist the driver outside their vehicle, whether
it’s at home with the help of a smart speaker or out and about via
smartphone. What’s more, he will be compatible with other digital
voice assistants beyond Amazon Alexa, too, providing a link to other
rapidly growing ecosystems. The personal assistant’s capabilities are
developing all the time courtesy of BMW’s Open Mobility Cloud and the
use of artificial intelligence. The range of functions and skills
available will be constantly expanded as part of regular updates,
which can be carried out seamlessly on a smartphone and in-car by
Remote Software Upgrade. “BMW’s Intelligent Personal Assistant teams
up with the new BMW Operating System 7.0 to create a brand new,
digital form of interaction with the customer’s BMW that redefines the
whole driving experience,” says Dieter May, Senior Vice President
Digital Products BMW Group.
BMWs acquire a digital personality.
BMW’s
Intelligent Personal Assistant learns routines and habits, and is
subsequently able to apply them in the appropriate context. He helps
the driver, learns their preferences and is familiar with their
favoured settings – e.g. for the seat heating or the places they drive
to frequently using the navigation system (“Take me home”). One unique
feature over other digital assistants is that drivers can give him a
name (for example, “Charlie” or “Joy”) to lend him even greater
individuality and personality. Not only does the Intelligent Personal
Assistant await the driver’s every command, he is always there to
assist them and even provide casual conversation (“Hey BMW, what’s
the meaning of life?”). He is familiar with the vehicle’s functions
and is able to operate them as required. Saying “Hey BMW, I’m cold”
will prompt the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant to adjust the
temperature inside the car accordingly. The assistant will benefit
from constant technical upgrades and be able to learn more and more
preferences and favoured settings. The assistant takes further strides
forward with every command given, every question asked and every
setting made. Forming the basis for all of this will be the portable,
digital customer profile – the BMW ID. This profile links the car to
the customer and their digital world.
A constant companion: the digital BMW
expert.
The arrival of the BMW Intelligent Personal
Assistant ensures there is always a genuine BMW professional on board.
He is able to explain all sorts of different functions (“How does the
High Beam Assistant work?”), provide current status information (“Is
the oil level okay?”) and help answer questions (“What warning
messages do I have?”). He knows the driver’s favourite settings, and
can even activate a combination of them to enhance well-being. For
instance, “Hey BMW, I feel tired” triggers a vitality programme that
adjusts the lighting mood, music and temperature, among other things,
in order to make the driver feel more awake. In future, the assistant
will also be able to give fuel-saving driving tips or think ahead and
warn drivers as necessary. He could alert the driver to problems
(“Tyre pressure is low”), for example, remind the driver of service
appointments and even arrange an appointment.
The perfect co-driver.
The Intelligent Personal
Assistant is, in short, the ideal co-driver and comes in particularly
useful during everyday driving (“Hey BMW, look for the nearest fuel
station on our route”). To make navigation particularly easy, drivers
can give him access to their calendar and contacts, which will enable
him to find parking spaces at the destination, provide information on
traffic jams along the route and remind the driver when they need to
set off. He also learns destinations the customer drives to
frequently. The assistant’s integration with Microsoft Office 365 and
Skype for Business transforms the BMW into a mobile office, and allows
him to join teleconferences at the driver’s request and read out
emails. But BMW’s Intelligent Personal Assistant is an entertainment
expert, too. So he can instantly identify the song currently playing
on the radio and search stations for the desired type of music (“Play
classical music please”).
Coming to BMW cars from March 2019.
The
Intelligent Personal Assistant will be available in a basic version
with voice control in 23 languages and markets from March 2019. In the
USA, Germany, UK, Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Brazil,
Japan and (from May 2019) China, the BMW Intelligent Personal
Assistant will also feature more natural voice control along with
further intelligent functions. The personal assistant will be offered
for models featuring the new BMW Operating System 7.0 and as part of
the Live Cockpit Professional (6U3). The scope of functions can be
extended with the Connected Package Professional.
The personal
assistant will be available to order for the new BMW 3 Series from
November 2018 and will be included for three years. From March 2019,
new BMW X5, Z4 and 8 Series models fitted with the BMW Operating
System 7.0 will be able to install the full version of the BMW
Intelligent Personal Assistant by Remote Software Upgrade without
having to visit a dealer.