Due to the Covid – 19 – pandemic decided the organizers of the CES 2021 already last summer, the most important electronics fair in the world this time not in the US – Gamblers’ paradise Las Vegas, but relocate to the Internet. However, as technology-savvy as the regular audience may be, the CES remains a challenge to the imagination even for those familiar with virtual reality.

Limits of the virtual parallel world “Only” around half of the exhibitors jumped out of the online event. Many saw the virtual format not only as an opportunity to reduce costs, but also to prepare the sometimes technically highly complex content appropriately for the viewer on the screen. Hardly any trade fair could be easier than the CES to get trade visitors enthusiastic about the topics of tomorrow in a purely virtual manner.

But an event like this year’s one CES also shows that the virtual parallel world is reaching its limits. The automotive sector has also suffered from this and this year wanted to meet for the first time in a new, befitting exhibition hall far away from memory cards, cell phone cases and LED chains.

It did not come to the showdown Mercedes, Audi and BMW, in recent years all active on the Consumer Electronic Show a few minutes away from the legendary Las Vegas Strip, played as well as Fiat Chrysler or General Motors at best at half speed. So there was no showdown of operating concepts and large screens from Mercedes, BMW or Jeep at CES.

CES 2021 first part (17 Pictures) One of the few car presentations at the CES 696 was the Audi e-tron GT. “You only get the chance to design such a car once in a lifetime”, says an authentically proud chief designer Marc Lichte. General Motors presented some of its top people for keynotes and discussions under its new logo for the virtual exhibition of the processor industry with Mary Barra, Marks Reuss and others. The new Ultium platform for electric vehicles can accommodate battery sizes between 19 and 200 kWh map and since some are in electric Hummer already start dreaming. Those who love things less rustic found what they were looking for at the elegant end of the scale: In its CES session, Audi presented the Audi E-Tron GT electric car, which has so far been shown as a study.

3D animation and driving without VR glasses For the first and second tier suppliers that the CES has in recent years have also chosen to be their international favorite playground, a lot revolves around vehicle electronics and the displays with their operating technology. Continental, Here and Leia, for example, are jointly developing navigation content for vehicle displays.

The three-dimensional representation of buildings and topography from Here is brought to life with Leia’s so-called light field technology – without special glasses. “3D display technology not only brings a wow factor to the vehicle cockpit, with the right content it also creates a more intuitive interaction between driver and vehicle and increases driving safety,” explains Ulrich Lüders, Head of Strategy and Portfolio in the Human Machine Interface division at Continental.

Automated driving remains of central importance It is not about the control and display modules or electric cars, the topic of automated driving is also of central importance at the virtual CES. The progress made by the individual companies is only really great for the developers. The driver himself will have to wait many years before he is highly automated or even autonomous in real everyday life.

CES 2021 second part (5 pictures) Bosch intends to increasingly offer software applications for automated driving with networked services.

Bosch sees in the The combination of electrified and automated driving with networked services is a huge field for software applications in itself. Vehicle computers are a key element with which Bosch intends to expand its leading role in software-intensive electronic systems. At the beginning of the year, the new Cross-Domain Computing Solutions division at Bosch added around 17. 000 his employees Work started to ensure that the complexity in vehicle development is reduced and that new driving functions are introduced into cars more quickly thanks to artificial intelligence.

(fpi) 32013