02.02.2012 BMW Touch-Sensitive Smart Fabric

At the 2011 Geneva Motor Show BMW unveiled the BMW Vision ConnectedDrive that showcased future technologies including the touch-sensitive dashboard. Researchers at the Polytechnic School in Montreal, Canada, have developed a soft polymer-based fiber with electrical properties that can be woven into fabric.

The electrical properties change depending on where the fabric is touched, and finger touches or slides on different areas can be programmed to control air-conditioning or change the volume of the stereo. Just imagine running a finger along your seat fabric to adjust the amount of lumbar support or swipe across the dashboard ahead of the passenger to open the glove box. It is a capacitive pad that can register touches and swipes when alternating current is plumbed through the fibers. BMW plans to install the touch-sensitive smart fabric in future models.

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