The Mercedes Futuristic Vision AVTR
Mercedes-Benz VISION AVTR – inspired by AVATAR: The name of the groundbreaking concept vehicle stands not only for the close collaboration in developing the showcar together with the AVATAR team but also for ADVANCED VEHICLE TRANSFORMATION. This concept vehicle embodies the vision of Mercedes-Benz designers, engineers and trend researchers for mobility in the distant future.
Mercedes-Benz VISION AVTR – inspired by AVATAR is the result of an unprecedented global partnership between one of the most innovative brands in the entertainment industry and the eighth most valuable brand in the world, Mercedes-Benz.
Inspired by the world of Pandora – the VISION AVTR shows a completely new interaction between human, machine and nature.
Design and UX
Fusion of interior and exterior: The holistic concept of the VISION AVTR combines the design disciplines interior, exterior and UX on an unprecedented scale. The distinctive inside-out design structure combines inside and outside into an emotional whole and was inspired by several creatures from the movie AVATAR. With its stretched “One Bow” design and organic design language, the VISION AVTR offers a visionary outlook on the design of the future.
Biometric connection: Instead of a conventional steering wheel, the multifunctional control element in the center console allows human and machine to merge. By placing the hand on the control unit, the interior comes to life and the vehicle recognizes the driver by his or her heartbeat and breathing.
Immersive experience space: By simply lifting the hand, a menu selection is projected onto the palm of the hand, through which the passenger can intuitively choose between different functionalities. For example, real-time 3D graphics can be used to explore the fictional world of Pandora from different perspectives. The curved display module creates the visual connection between passengers and the outside world.
Sustainability and Drive
Organic battery technology made of recyclable materials: For the first time, the VISION AVTR concept vehicle is using a revolutionary battery technology based on graphene-based organic cell chemistry that is completely free of rare earths and metals. The materials of the battery are compostable and therefore completely recyclable. In this way, electric mobility becomes independent of fossil resources. As a result, Mercedes-Benz underlines the high relevance of a future circular economy in the raw materials sector.
The vehicle as a living creature: The 33 “bionic flaps” on the back of the vehicle are reminiscent of scales of reptiles. They can communicate with the driver and through the driver with their outside world through naturally flowing movements in subtle gestures. Due to the possibility to drive the front and rear axles in the same or opposite direction, the VISION AVTR can move sideways by approx. 30 degrees, in contrast to conventional vehicles. The so-called “crab movement” gives the concept vehicle an animal-like appearance even in its movement.
Sustainable materials: The seats of the VISION AVTR are refined by vegan DINAMICA®leather. DINAMICA® is the first and only microfiber that guarantees environmental sustainability throughout the entire production cycle. The floor is decorated with an innovative wood called Karuun®. The raw material for Karuun (Rattan) grows very fast as a natural raw material and is harvested by hand in Indonesia. The material gives the interior warmth and radiates naturalness.
Technical data:
| CO2 emissions | 0 g/km |
| Range (WLTP) | over 700 km |
| Performance | over 350 kW |
| Battery | 110 kWh |
| Drive | All-wheel drive (fully variable) with torque vectoring |
Interview with Alexander Mankowsky
“The VISION AVTR is an imaginative guide to the future”
Alexander Mankowsky, futurologist at Mercedes-Benz, on the role of speculation in science, the extension of the senses through technology and the fusion of human, machine and nature.
Animal like movement, pulse rate in the seats, intuitive control – much of the VISION AVTR sounds utopian, not to say fantastic. How much of it is realistic vision of the future, how much of it is pure science fiction?
The aim of the VISION AVTR is to show us a signpost for a livable future, even if it will probably never be built. The VISION AVTR makes speculative science visible and tangible. As researchers and scientists evolve new theories or develop existing ones, they depend on their imagination. They leave the ground of what can be proved today and enter an area of speculation – a scientifically substantiated “What if?”. This is exactly the approach we have taken with the VISION AVTR. We started from the current state of development and used our imagination to elevate our current view of “human-centered innovation” into the projection of a world in which man is embedded in the entire biosphere. The sooner we tackle this, the better.
What is the basic scenario of the VISION AVTR?
The VISION AVTR serves as an imaginative guide to a future in which our relationship with ourselves, nature and technology has changed. Human beings see themselves as part of the biosphere and are in contact with it. Technology enables us to feel and see the communication streams of the biosphere that are still hidden to us today, to understand them holistically. This understanding will not be passively observing, but will give us opportunities to travel and shape the biosphere with pleasure. The luxury and beauty of the future are based on nature: A flowering rose bush, for example, is fading in colours, shapes and fragrances, and yet remains a permanent player in the cycle of nature. The future luxury of Mercedes-Benz will be based on this.
Can you give an example of the hidden communication flows of the biosphere that are made visible and experienced by the VISION AVTR?
The biosphere communicates, it constantly coordinates. Braids in the forest floor, for example, transport signals from trees over kilometers, direct nutrients to roots and act like a nervous system without a center. Today, we don’t see these signaling paths, but actually sometimes feel them. From the five kingdoms of life – animals, plants, fungi, bacteria and multicellular ones – the ones that we do not see are even the decisive ones. With the VISION AVTR, we offer a glimpse into a future in which we can perceive and even follow these traces through the vehicle’s sensors. Like bees flying along the scented streams of flowers, we discover the biosphere around us in beauty. We can take the worldview of other living beings, feel what a flying being feels, and what it sees.
How are these features related to the world of AVATAR?
AVATAR reveals a symbiosis between the Na’vi and their environment on Pandora.
Developing the VISION AVTR we loved the idea of a symbiosis. Our approach was the human machine merge. Therefore we got inspired by the Gaia hypothesis – from Gaia the Greek mother goddess of life. Biochemist James Lovelock described this hypothesis in the 1960s. He had been working on the composition of atmospheres on behalf of NASA and described that the atmosphere of Mars is chemically balanced. The Earth’s atmosphere, on the other hand, is full of tensions, it is not stable. Without action, it would fall into an ongoing retirement, like that of the planet Mars. The Gaia hypothesis was the first answer to the question of how this earth’s instability is not only preserved, but also the exact amount of oxygen to breathe and to live is contained in it.
Lovelock recognized that the biosphere creates its own environment. The forest e.g. dispels moisture when the sun is too strong and the resulting clouds cool the forest. This is the so called Gaia hypothesis. That means the earth, sustains herself as a living planet. Metaphorically speaking, our planet lives.
How this symbiosis is made tangible in the VISION AVTR?
The whole vehicle is designed for this symbiosis. On the one hand by the mentioned sensors, on the other hand also by the intimate position of the vehicle occupants, which enables a fusion of body and vehicle. Our breathing – the expression of our vitality – is exchanged between passengers and the environment. The VISION AVTR adapts through its flowing forms of natural aesthetics, overcoming the boundary of natural and technical formal language. The magical moment of merging body, technique and nature is already carried out when entering the vehicle.
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