Yesterday, January 26, Audi introduced the fourth and final car in the Sphere series of concept vehicles of the future – the novelty is called the Audi Activesphere and it is a cross between a crossover, coupe and pickup truck. Representatives of the company said that they were developing a concept for users who prefer an active lifestyle, so the car received quite impressive ground clearance, underbody protection and decent off-road flotation. At the same time, the novelty is equipped with everything necessary for long trips away from civilization – you can install a bed or an additional trunk on the roof, and in the luggage compartment, which opens to increase space, there are mounts for transporting bicycles and more.
Also, the designers took the trouble to make the body of the vehicle as attractive as possible – for the sake of this, some body elements were simply made transparent. For example, the radiator grill, which is not here (after all, this is an electric car, of course), was replaced with a transparent panel made of durable glass – thanks to this, the driver gets an additional view of the roadway right through the front trunk. But the most interesting thing about the car is in the cabin, because the developers from Audi are sure that in the near future such cars will be almost completely unmanned, so the steering wheel and pedals will be needed only in rare cases.
For example, the manufacturer showed the work of a driver of a vehicle with an augmented reality headset – thanks to this tool, the user can study the features of the route on a large display (which is formed on the windshield of the car), receiving additional information in 3D format. At the same time, the image is configured separately for the driver and passengers – the driver receives more data related to the road surface, speed and approximate time for the route, while the content for passengers will be more entertaining. And, what is most interesting, the information is interactive – you can interact with it by making adjustments.
The vehicle can drive independently without the participation of the driver, but if desired or urgently needed, the user can call the steering wheel and pedals to drive without the participation of the autopilot. Of the interesting, it is also worth highlighting a battery with support for fast charging – the company said that the owner will be able to charge the Audi Activesphere from 5% to 80% in just 25 minutes. However, at the moment this is only information from a press release, since such a car will reach mass production at best in ten years. Probably, if you remove AR elements and unmanned off-road driving, the manufacturer could speed up this process, but then there will be a minimum of differences between the Activesphere and current SUVs.
Source: Trash Box
Charles Grill is a tech-savvy writer with over 3 years of experience in the field. He writes on a variety of technology-related topics and has a strong focus on the latest advancements in the industry. He is connected with several online news websites and is currently contributing to a technology-focused platform.
