Mercedes says:
"The Mercedes-Benz F 015 Luxury in Motion research vehicle makes the future tangible with the revolutionary concept of autonomous driving. A luxury sedan with total connectivity between vehicle, passengers, and the outside world, it's a preview of how the self-driving car of the future could evolve into a platform for communication and interaction."The shape is predictably futuristic, bringing to mind the 2056-era vehicles of "Minority Report." Clearly, with autonomous driving, the interior is expanded, and the windshield is positively rakish, almost 40 degrees, since the idea is to make the most of the interior space.
A video of the vehicle - which no one is under any illusion will be coming to a showroom anytime soon, or in this configuration - portrays autonomous driving as a peaceful and serene event, with video screens embedded in the doors, and an automatic table expanding from between the seats with the slightest touch of a hand.
Of course it seems to take a minute and a half to expand upwards, reminding one of the futuristic-looking "electronic curtains" that closed in a mere seven minutes with the touch of a remote, portrayed in 1950s films showing how wonderful the future would be.
The four occupants (including, apparently, the "driver") are shown casually speaking with one another as the front row is turned backwards to face the rear occupants. This would seem to be the dawn of a new age of personal interaction in vehicles, until one realizes that the car would definitely be Wi-Fi enabled (since Chevy Impalas in 2015 already are) and the four would be heads-down in their smartphones, or Google Goggles, or whatever is big in 2025.
This kind of fanciful vision is par for the course for such speculative concepts, and we have to bear with them. Still, if the Mercedes of 2025 looks anything like this, we're in for some beautiful vehicles. Not that all but a few would be able to afford such a beast.
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