Supplier Touts BMW Gesture Control System

Sony Corp.’s SoftKinetic unit is supplying the gesture-control technology in BMW AG’s 2017 5 Series car.

The Brussels-based affiliate launched the technology, which allows users to control some vehicle functions with simple hand gestures, on the 2016 BMW 7 Series. Using video cameras installed in a car’s headliner, SoftKinetic's 3D Time of Flight system identifies predetermined hand gestures and adjusts vehicle controls accordingly for audio volume, accept/reject incoming phone calls, changing camera views and programming additional features.

The system can perform across various lighting conditions, which SoftKinetic notes has been a problem for previous 3D sensor technologies.