A whole new world: How CARIAD turns every drive into an experience

"Until now, people used the car to get to their destination. With experience worlds, there is now a second reason to get into the car," says Dr. Oliver Otto, Project & Product Manager in the Entertainment & In-Car Functions team at CARIAD. Oliver and his colleagues have developed a new function, which transforms the interior of the car into an oasis of relaxation, a focused workspace or a dynamic cockpit, depending on each driver‘s needs.

What used to be static now becomes situational – creating an emotional connection between humans and machine that goes beyond driving.

Scalable solution with deep integration into the vehicle

The experience worlds are developed on Android Automotive OS (AAOS), which enables scaling across different vehicle segments and equipment

The function is deeply integrated into the vehicle and can control various functions in the interior. "The whole vehicle works like an orchestra for us – and we are the conductor: from the ambient lighting, the main and passenger displays, the massage seats to the sound system and the sun roof to the air conditioning and the driving mode," says Oliver.

Time for a quick nap?

One example is the "power nap" function: "When you take a break, the vehicle can dim the lights and darken the interior. In addition, the seat is brought into a comfortable position. Selected music helps to fall asleep quickly," explains Oliver. After a few minutes, the sleep phase begins. This is gently ended after ten minutes by sound, light and the massage function of the seat.

Once activated, the various scenarios take between ten and 20 minutes. In addition, they can dynamically adapt to the vehicle‘s movements and be conveniently controlled by the driver via the Audi assistant.

„The interfaces which were developed for the experience worlds to control vehicle functions can also be adapted to other use cases“, says Oliver. One future scenario: To intensify the in-car gaming experience by controlling the air conditioning or lights. A demo of the light integration was recently shown in an Audi SQ6 e-tron at CES.

The experience worlds will be available to customers in the Audi A5, A6, Q5, A6 e-tron and Q6 e-tron model series starting with the new model year.