MINI's future fun

There might be nothing new about iPod or iPhone connectivity in a car, but MINI is looking to take the interface further with its revolutionary way of accessing the content of your digital music device with MINI Music Map.

Rather than an endless list of songs that can number in the thousands, MINI Music Map groups the songs by genre and displays them as clusters or ‘islands’ that are easier to navigate than a conventional list, especially when driving. Playlists can also be automatically generated and are designed to impart the feeling of having a private radio station in the car as the music selections are determined by special algorithms that have been developed in consultation with radio programme managers and DJs all over the world.

Fans of social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter can also look forward to tweeting from their cars with features like MINI Connected Live. Instead of compromising their safety when incessant tweeters text type while driving, MINI Connected Live can be programmed to automatically generate tweets that say something about your position, where you’re going, the weather and so on. As the car’s onboard computers and GPS system already have the data, MINI Connected Live reinterprets the information into a tweet that might read: “Wow, it’s 34 degrees outside and it sure is hot! Luckily my MINI’s air-conditioning is set to a cool 18 degrees”.

While cynics might dismiss these infotainment features as mere gimmicks or distractions, they are all designed to enhance the driving experience. Perhaps there is no feature that does this more convincingly than another innovation, Active Sound Design.

In a prototype MINI Cooper S that was fitted with this feature, the standard engine and exhaust note from the 1.6-litre turbocharged unit could be changed and amplified to sound like a V8 or boxer engine at a press of a button on the dash board. Sounds like fun, sounds like the future.

Credits: Story by Sheldon Trollope in Munich, Germany Photos by BMW Group