Concept cars exist to break rules the production floor can’t touch, and nowhere is that more obvious than inside the cabin. Auto show interiors have moved past leather-and-chrome fantasy toward something closer to interface design: control schemes built around a driver’s pulse, screens that stretch pillar to pillar, and seating that reorganizes around a passenger’s body. A handful of recent concepts pushed that idea furthest, each backed by manufacturer paperwork confirming what was shown.
Mercedes-Benz VISION AVTR Ditches the Steering Wheel for a Heartbeat
Mercedes-Benz unveiled the VISION AVTR at CES 2020, developed with the team behind James Cameron’s Avatar films, with the name doubling as shorthand for “Advanced Vehicle Transformation.” A multifunctional control element on the center console replaces the steering wheel and recognizes the driver by heartbeat and breathing the moment a hand rests on it, bringing the interior to life. Lifting that hand projects a menu onto the palm, letting occupants navigate real-time 3D graphics of Pandora’s ecosystem, part of a brain-computer interface Mercedes detailed in a companion release on operating the user interface with the power of thought, capable of selecting a navigation destination or switching the radio station through concentration alone. The sustainability angle runs just as deep: the seats use vegan DINAMICA microfiber leather, and the floor is finished in Karuun, a rapidly renewable rattan hand-harvested in Indonesia, both confirmed in Mercedes’ Inspired by the future: The VISION AVTR release. Outside, 33 bionic flaps across the rear panel ripple like reptilian scales on a vehicle that can also shift its axles roughly 30 degrees for a crab-like sideways crawl.
BMW i Vision Dee Turns the Dashboard Into a Windshield-Wide Display
BMW brought the i Vision Dee to CES 2023 in Las Vegas, and the cabin was built around one idea: strip away physical hardware and let a digital layer take over. Per BMW’s official release, the Head-Up Display spans the full width of the windscreen, appearing only when activated so the rest of the glass stays clear. A BMW Mixed Reality Slider on the instrument panel uses touch-sensitive “shy tech” surfaces to cycle through five stages of digital content, from a fully analog mode with no displays at all up through an immersive virtual world, with dimmable windows that fade the real environment to match. The steering wheel keeps a single vertical spoke fitted with touchpoints instead of buttons, operable with a thumb while both hands stay on the wheel. Then-CEO Oliver Zipse framed the project as proof that “hardware and software merge” to turn the car into an “intelligent companion,” while board member Frank Weber tied it to the “perfect integration of virtual and physical experiences,” both quoted in BMW’s release. The concept’s E Ink exterior skin, capable of 32 colors across 240 individually controlled segments, got further coverage in a CNBC report from the CES floor.
Cadillac InnerSpace Builds a Living Room Around Two Seats
General Motors introduced the Cadillac InnerSpace at CES 2022 as part of the brand’s Halo Concept Portfolio, a two-passenger autonomous pod with no steering wheel or pedals. According to GM’s official announcement, the seats pivot outward when the doors open to ease entry, and a low floor made possible by the Ultium platform’s distributed battery modules allows a sports car-style seating position despite the cabin’s spaciousness. A panoramic SMD LED display wraps around the interior, driven by AI-based biometric sensing that shifts between Augmented Reality, Entertainment, and Wellness Recovery modes. An expansive glass roof and glazed body sides keep the cabin from feeling enclosed despite the screen dominating the space. Bryan Nesbitt, GM’s executive director of Global Advanced Design, said in the release that electrification and autonomous driving would “fundamentally change the role of vehicles and the experiences customers have with them.”
Hyundai Prophecy Swaps the Wheel for Twin Joysticks
Hyundai’s Prophecy concept dropped the conventional steering wheel in favor of dual joysticks, one on the center console and a second on the door trim. Hyundai’s own release, Hyundai reveals further details of “Prophecy” Concept EV, states that roughly 90 percent of the car’s functions run through the joystick controls, letting the driver keep hands in place rather than reaching across the cabin for basic adjustments. A Smart Posture Care System reads a driver’s height, seated height, and weight, then automatically repositions the seat, the steering mechanism, and the mirrors. A pillar-to-pillar infotainment screen stretches the width of the dashboard, and the car’s Relax Mode reclines the seats while the dashboard rises to improve the viewing angle. Chief design officer Luc Donckerwolke described the language behind it as “a new concept in the creation of our cars,” according to the release.
What These Interiors Actually Signal
None of these four cabins is headed to a dealership lot as shown, and that has always been the point of a concept car. What ties them together is how much of the wild factor lives in the control interface rather than the upholstery. Steering wheels are being replaced by joysticks, palm-sized touch pads, and biometric sensors, while seating is starting to respond to a passenger’s body rather than the other way around. Some of these ideas already leaked into production, like the full-width head-up display BMW confirmed would arrive on Neue Klasse models. The rest remain proof of what a design studio can do once the parts bin gets thrown out entirely.