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Fri, May

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Byton which incorporate a massive touchscreen from one end to another of the dashboard reimagines what it feels like to be inside a truly futuristic car.

Even as the electric car fails to match Tesla on performance or price, Byton is hopeful that people in the future would care more for digital power than horsepower.

Chief Executive of Byton, Carsten Breitfeld said "We desire to be the company bringing into the market the first real smart car."

The information comes ahead of the concept vehicle's official launch at the annual CES trade show in Las Vegas.

The company is bankrolled with money from China, and believes it has the development know-how to overcome the hurdles that see most new car companies fail.

However, to solve perhaps its biggest problem, Byton will need to strike a deal with Tesla's Elon Musk.

The car's screen is part of what Mr Chung, formerly of Apple's Mac team, calls the "digital lounge". It can be controlled using touch and voice gestures.

The car also houses a tablet computer which is situated in the middle of the steering wheel, while an extra screen can be found on the back of each front seat.

The main display is capable of showing mapping, video clips, calenders, health data and many other interesting stuff. As a passenger sits in the car, cameras inside will ascertain his/her profile, load customisations to suit the profile including adjusting car seat.

When full self-driving mode is activated, or when car is stationary, both front seats can turn facing each other for better comfortable and sociable position, providing space up the middle of the car so those in the back seat can view the large display.

It's so far the most sophisticated interface I've seen in a car. But I put it to Mr Chung that taking your hand off the wheel to run your fingers about in mid-air might be extremely distracting while driving, Breitfeld said.

"All features of the car will be accessible via touch. And so the driver will have the ability on the driver's tablet to make all the selections that can be done with gestures.

"After the car is purchased, we might actually pare down the gestures as people aren't very accustomed to it."

"We would never want to force any driver to do gestures to control specific features. Having the ability to customise is the key," he added.

Indeed, on most performance benchmarks, Byton's car is less impressive. But Mr Breitfeld thinks to dwell on that would be missing the point.

The car is kitted out with the sensors it requires to deliver "level 4" autonomy, the level at which a driver can safely, in theory go to sleep at the wheel.

Even Tesla has struggled to manufacture its Model 3 cars speedily enough to meet demand, frustrating investors who feel it is a make-or-break product.

 

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