In the past two days, Amazon's Kindle business has made a lot of noise about "withdrawing from China", forcing Amazon to hurry up with a wave of official response.
Of course, our focus is not on the response itself, but the Kindle, known as the perfect bubble cover, has once again returned to the center of public opinion ridiculed by netizens. Some people say that it may be the first hand in the takeaway industry:
Of course, jokes are jokes, in fact, it is enough to show the love of technology enthusiasts for Kindle paper books.
During CES, the world's largest consumer electronics show in 2022, BMW unveiled its first "color-changing car" – an E-Ink screen plastered with electric paper books all over its body.
Let's take a look at how the car changes color:
The entire body can be changed from black, white and gray at the same time:
As you can see, the project of the "color-changing car" was done on a BMW iX. But in fact, there are a lot of lines on the BMW iX body, such as the top is like a combination of three huge custom E Ink screens:
The wheels of the car are also decorated with E Ink screen material:
From the process of the video demonstration, we can also see that this color change car should be able to "full control" or achieve "partition color change":
"Plastering" the E Ink ink screen on the body of the BMW iX is a latest research result presented by BMW at CES 2022.
Bmw's design team said that about two years ago, the idea of using E Ink's electronic ink screen technology on the body began to be used. Because after their investigation, they found that the electronic ink screen E Ink can still work after cutting and punching holes, and perhaps the E Ink screen can be attached to the body surface after cutting and customization.
After the official establishment of the project. In the process of decomposition and customization, the BMW design team used laser scanning to measure the appearance parameters of the body, and used a generative design to create different sizes according to the curvature of the car and the surface, so as to customize the large E Ink screen into a curved segment and several-piece design.
After finally using the laser to cut the electronic ink screen, the one-button color change function of the body was successfully realized on the innovative BMW iX.
Friends who know E Ink technology know that its electronic ink screen is composed of many electronic inks, electronic ink can be seen as a capsule, the diameter is only the thickness of a hair, each capsule has a liquid charge, of which the positive charge is stained white, and the negative charge is stained black. The attraction and rejection of positive and negative charges (black and white charges) is achieved through the high and low conversion of voltages, so that the black and white colors we see are formed.
As can be seen in principle, it can be displayed without power maintenance, that is to say, only when the screen content needs to be updated, the voltage is readjusted to change the black and white charge structure (power consumption), so many E Ink e-books can maintain the current graphics every time the refresh is completed, even if the battery is unplugged.
So when this feature comes to the car, on the one hand, the color change can complete a more personalized expression, such as displaying text on the car; in addition, this itself is also very in line with the sustainable concept advocated by the BMW Group in recent years.
BMW's design team said that the electronic ink screen is conducive to reducing energy consumption while changing the color of the body, and the transformable body color is conducive to improving the comfort of the car and reducing the energy required for the electrical system. For example, the white surface can reflect more sunlight than black, if the body color is changed to a light color, the impact of strong external sunlight and high temperature on the interior of the vehicle can be reduced accordingly, and the interior such as the center console and dashboard can be prevented from overheating. In the case of lower temperatures, turning the body dark can help absorb more heat from sunlight, reduce the energy consumption required for air conditioning heating, and effectively increase the electric range.
At the same time, this also provides a new direction and thinking for sustainable development. BMW uses "e-ink" technology to continuously explore the possibilities of user personalization and sustainability.
During CES2022, the E Ink screen is just one part of the BMW Group's theme of "emotional expression" on the car.
Mr. Noda, Director of the BMW Group in charge of customer, brand and sales, said: "Only by incorporating rich emotions into amazing innovations can we truly impress today's and tomorrow's consumers. We must put people first, create miracles with technology, and make functions simpler and more convenient in an intelligent way. Through immersive technology and a superior design aesthetic, BMW is committed to creating inspiring experiences for its users. ”
In addition to the personalized body color change design, BMW released four new theme modes, namely "Relax Mode", "Expressive Mode", "Digital Art Mode" (Digital Art), and "Theater Mode", in the car, BMW also designed exclusive sound effects for each "Theme Mode".
31-inch ultra-wide panoramic display with 8K resolution
At this exhibition, BMW also released the "cinema mode" future in-car entertainment system for the first time. This is an 8K ultra-wide panoramic display suspended in the rear seats, which is integrated in the car's canopy system and extends from the canopy to the front seat backrest. On-screen entertainment can be played in 16:9, 21:9, and even 32:9 formats, complemented by the Bowers & Wilkins 4D Diamond surround sound system, which mainly provides users with a superior streaming entertainment experience.
The BMW Group also specifically mentioned that the screen content will work with local Chinese suppliers to provide an in-car entertainment experience that meets the preferences of Chinese users.
Mr. Gao Le, President and CEO of the BMW Group Greater China, said: "China has become a global leader in innovation and a key driver of digitalization. China's movements will lead the world, and with the 'China First' principle, BMW will accelerate the digitalization process." ”