Mercedes-Benz managed to make a car that looks even more ridiculously futuristic than Tesla’s Cybertruck.
At CES Mercedes-Benz revealed a new concept car called the AVTR. The acronym stands for advanced vision transportation, but it is also a reference to the 2009 film “Avatar,” which features blue-skinned characters and inspired the car’s aesthetic. “Avatar” director James Cameron collaborated with Mercedes to create the car and took the stage alongside it. “I see a future where we continue to co-evolve with our technology… we will merge, we will absorb it and it will become such a natural part of our lives,” said Cameron.”When I sat in this car you put your hand on the control interface and it just breathes, it seems alive, it’s organic,” Cameron added.
Director James Cameron (left) poses by the AVTR with Ola Kallenius, chairman of the board of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG. REUTERS/Steve Marcus
The AVTR is an electric car and is capable of driving sideways as well as forwards. The back is covered with 33 moveable scales. Mercedes calls them “bionic flaps,” and claims their function is to communicate with the driver.
A close-up of the AVTR’s “bionic flaps.”
“They can communicate with the driver and through the driver with their outside world through naturally flowing movements in subtle gestures,” Mercedes wrote in a press statement. The car design also forgoes a steering wheel in place of a glowing mound, or “control unit.”
“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,” the company claims.
Unlike the Cybertruck, the AVTR is only a concept car, so don’t expect to be seeing it or any of its features on the road any time soon.
Isobel Asher Hamilton
Design & Fashion Magazine 