Autonomous technology will sooner or later open a new chapter in interior design. When that happens, whether it’s in a couple of years or in a few decades, General Motors predicts that travelers will be able to game on-the-go.
General Motors Design published a sketch on its official Instagram account that shows what a car’s cabin could look like when designers no longer need to package it around a steering wheel and pedals. Instead of a dashboard as we know it, the nameless concept receives a spacious parcel shelf positioned directly below a wide screen that’s low enough for the occupants to look over. There’s also a portrait-oriented touchscreen mounted between the two seats.
Chevrolet designer Darby Jean Barber penned the design. It’s a layout that lets one of the passengers play a video game while the other looks out at the scenery or read a book. Of course, it’s not too far-fetched to speculate the screen might be split vertically, allowing one occupant to blast alien spaceships into smithereens while the other watches a romantic comedy, possibly using an in-car video streaming platform like Amazon Fire TV for Auto.
We’re not there yet. In-car gaming is slowly spreading across the industry, some of it is virtual reality-based and very cool, but the software is only enabled when it’s being used by the rear-seat occupants, or when the transmission is in park. You won’t be able to play Mario Kart from the driver’s seat while cruising at 75 mph for quite some time.