To find out what this car is all about, the list of interviews conducted by Driver's Edge includes:
Zane Amiris, Senior Experience Design Manager at Daimler AG
Professor Klaus Franzel, Head of Digital Graphics and Corporate Design
Stephen Kohl, Director of Advanced Exterior Design at Mercedes-Benz
and Head of Interior Design, Mercedes-Benz: Hartmut Sinkwitz
and
Chairman of the Board of Daimler AG and President of Mercedes-Benz Cars Worldwide: Linus Korn
Golden Hollywood Producer and Producer of Avatar: Jon Landau
Over the course of a day, we went through the interviews above, looked at the hand-drawn design drawings, and even sat in the cockpit model for a hands-on experience.
▲Hartmut Sinkiewicz, Mercedes-Benz's director of interior design, explains the AVTR's interior design concept, with the AVTR's exterior design manuscript in the background behind him.
And yet, the moment we saw it drive slowly from backstage at 8 p.m. Las Vegas time, we were still impressed by its futuristic design.
▲My real-life shot of the AVTR's moment on stage. The moment the transparent scissor doors opened, the whole room was abuzz with excitement.
Holding down the excitement, let's circle a few knowledge points:
1.?The AVTR concept car is the latest design product from Mercedes-Benz. Rather than being inspired by Avatar, it's more accurate to say - it's a reflection of Mercedes and Cameron's Avatar 2 team **** together for the future of the world, the depth of the relationship between people and transportation offered.
2.? Its core concept is: the harmonious interaction of man, machine, nature and organic environment. As Avatar shows us.
3.? The purpose of all the materials it uses is "sustainable modernist luxury". Specifically, all materials are based on not depleting the natural environment and being sustainable.
4.? What it wants to bring to people is not just a cool and extreme design. Instead, it is an attempt to "expand the human sensory experience", and it can even be said that it creates a kind of magical realm that can only be experienced in the car. It opens up a whole new realm of digital immersion.
5. Yes. Avatar 2 has started filming. And a release date - December 17, 2021 - has been set. Relevant stills have also been released, with legendary Hollywood director James Cameron himself announcing the news and debuting the stills at the launch of the Mercedes-Benz AVTR concept car. What can also be revealed is that Avatar 2 will also feature Michelle Yeoh.
▲Stills from 'Avatar 2'
After circling the highlights, let's take it from there.
First of all, the Mercedes-Benz partnership with "Avatar 2" isn't what we usually think of as an "ad placement. Avatar producer Jon Landau said in an interview, "It's a sharing of a vision of the future, as Avatar has always expressed," and that the partnership with Mercedes-Benz is not about "providing a car," but rather a powerful motivation to "work together with a car," he said. and that the partnership with Mercedes-Benz is not about "providing a car" but rather a strong motivation to "look at the world again, together, with a different perspective".
▲Left is Mercedes-Benz global CEO Linus Kang, right is "Avatar" series producer Jon Landau
And the six words "reexamining the world" to describe Mercedes-Benz this time for the AVTR concept car design concept, is obviously more than appropriate. In order to express the harmonious interaction of man, machine, nature and organic environment, Mercedes-Benz has told a story from the material of one interior panel.
For example, the interior panels are not made of the rare wood we see in Mercedes-Benz cars, but from rattan. The plant, which is completely renewable and continues to regenerate in a short period of time, provided Mercedes with new inspiration for the interior - wood from the consumption of nature, and rattan from the cycle of regeneration.
This natural rattan material, pictured below, could be used to make door handles and some of the finishes on concept cars and even future Mercedes-Benz models.
Another material we've already had access to in Mercedes-Benz cars is "tumbled leather", which is not made of real leather. Animal leather is not only a drain on the natural environment in which it is harmonized***, it is also more difficult to care for in daily use due to the presence of pores, which make it easier for dirt to penetrate into the texture and make it impossible to clean. Mercedes-Benz has adopted the latest ultra-light fiber material, which is not only more durable and easier to care for, but also recyclable without burdening the environment. And from a tactile standpoint, I can responsibly say it's softer and more delicate to the touch than leather.
This material is also standard on the seats of the AVTR, the car of the future. And on some Mercedes-Benz models for sale, it appears on the roof covering.
In addition, Mercedes' interior director introduced us to a fabric-like material that comes from recycled plastics. It feels smooth to the touch and looks high-end. The key point remains the same: it's environmentally friendly and recyclable.
After reading these points about interior materials, it's easy to see how the AVTR, as an extremely cool-looking car, is Mercedes' interpretation of "sustainable modernist luxury.
And from the outside, it only takes one photo to see where it comes from:
Then there's the moving picture, which shows the traditional rear-window scoop, which has been treated as a mass of "scales" - and the key: they move!
▲This picture focuses not only on the moving scales, but also on James Cameron next to the car. He's considered one of the greatest directors of the century.
These "scales" are not entirely decorative, or even that decorative is only one of their insignificant role, they are people and cars in the car outside the interaction of a carrier, at the same time, but also similar to the solar energy such as the collection of energy "organ! "
They are a carrier for human-vehicle interaction outside the vehicle.
And outside of the exterior, it is the inner experience of the entire AVTR that brings human thinking about the automobile into an unprecedented realm. While most of the concept cars from the world's major automakers are still piling up screens and thinking about "mobile home", Mercedes-Benz is already thinking about how to explore the boundaries of expanding human senses.
We can see that the concept car has no steering wheel, no pedals, no center console, just a main control unit, which can be activated when the driver's hand is placed on top of the main control unit, and can be further controlled through a natural control interface with gestures of movement and confirmation of fist movements.
▲The rounded main console unit inside the vehicle controls the direction of travel and speed by moving forward, left/right when touched. And here's the kicker: it detects the driver's heart rate and health status.
▲Gesture control confirms further control of the digital immersion experience in the car, such as pulling up close to look at a tree.
And within the digitally immersive cockpit, three-dimensional sound and visual experiences make the most of the in-car immersive experience. Mercedes-Benz describes the concept system as "extending the full range of human sensory experiences in a car cabin," and with this digital system, you can even feel the air flow, the magnetic field flow, and sense the energy in the growing plants.
Apparently, the interface for this system is the planet Pandora from Avatar. As I understand it, it's not so much that it's actually driving on an alien planet, but rather that it's a digitally immersive experience in the cockpit as you drive through everyday scenes -- so it's everyday street scenes outside the car, and digitally virtual scenes inside the car.
This is an idea I've seen before in GM's future digital outlook, where GM has made the entire front windshield into a digital screen that displays a game-like traversal scenario such as "Rush to the Monster," where obstacles outside the car are virtualized to enhance the driving experience.
In AVTR, this experience has been completely evolved and upgraded to become the ultimate. In the exploration of expanding the sensory experience, Mercedes-Benz's thinking is undoubtedly extremely advanced.
Jon Landau said, "Movies don't just entertain, they inspire." They don't want to teach the masses, but rather to inspire them to "appreciate the world we are in and cherish the moment we have."
In this sense, Mercedes-Benz's "sustainable modernist luxury" is similarly not "teaching" people what "luxury" is, but rather It is not to "teach" people what "luxury" is, but to inspire human exploration of the automobile. And going back to Mercedes' core design philosophy of "Sensibility - Purity", is this not the ultimate in sensibility and purity?
Jon Landau also said that someone has to do something "not based on reality" and that "it is the innovation itself that separates the innovator from the follower" - a great quote. That's a great quote, and when he said it I completely understood the relationship between Avatar 2 and AVTR itself: they don't just ***exist***, they ***beg***.
After Driver's Notes:
I'm still struggling to quell my excitement after attending the end of the full launch. Just like the butterflies that fluttered in the sky at the beginning of the event, the launch itself was a very immersive experience, as if it took people to a part of Pandora.
And Pandora has never been an "alien planet", it comes from the creative team's thinking about human beings and their environment, it comes from the future, but from the present. It's about exploring new environments and new species. "The Earth is full of wonders, and it's worth exploring for the rest of our lives".
Is the automobile not a miracle? When the concept of "transportation" is taken out of the cold, when the relationship between it and human beings is like "Phantom Knight" and "Toruk", and when it is linked to them through emotions, it gives The human imagination can become infinitely huge.
From this night, we will also be able to better appreciate how the inventor of the automobile has "invented the automobile" again and again.
Written by Zhao Xiaocha
Pictured by Zhao Xiaocha? Official
This article comes from the author of Auto Home, and does not represent the views of Auto Home.