BMW Research Project

The BMW d-Care project was a research initiative between BMW and USC’s Mobile and Environmental Media Lab (MEML), which started in 2012. The focus of BMW and MEML’s research was to envision the future of personal transportation during the rise of self-driving technology. BMW wanted to explore what additional value and unique experience could happen within one’s car in a world where car ownership was no longer a certainty. In order to bring this vision to life, MEML was loaned a BMW Mini Countryman as a research tool.

The solution that the MEML lab created was Ambient Storytelling for Vehicle-Drive Interaction. In other words, the lab created a system that existed between a driver or passenger and the vehicle via a unique onboard personality capable of learning and adapting to each passenger. The envisioned interaction between the car’s personality and its driver or passengers would primarily take place on the vehicle’s infotainment system but would also utilize all of the vehicle’s onboard systems. After some deliberation, the onboard character of the vehicle was dubbed Nigel. After the basic interaction with Nigel was prototyped, tested, and implemented, the research lab paired the vehicle with an individual research study participant or tester.

Additionally, as part of the evolution of the lab’s research and that of the vehicle’s personality, an Alternate Reality Game (ARG) was designed for the research study participant. The ARG was created as a place to further the story of Nigel and served as another potential outcome where drivers and passengers of the future might interact with vehicles. The ARG was presented as a fictional part of BMW called d-Care. As part of the ARG, a fully featured website and forum were created for d-Care.

As a member of MEML, I worked as a Senior Application Developer. In my role, I created everything from writing code (in Lua) to advance the character progression or evolution of Nigel and creating web and virtual reality (VR) visualizations and infographics to showcase the vehicle’s sensor data and the tester’s participation in the study. I also designed, programmed, and maintained the websites for the study’s ARG.

Additional information about the research study and MEML can be found here