At the 2024 CES technology exhibition in Las Vegas, which used to be called the Consumer Electronics Exhibition, Mercedes-Benz showed off a number of cutting-edge updates to its MBUX entertainment system. Sony Entertainment, Audible, and Amazon Music all have material libraries built into the system. It also has a more advanced AI voice assistant. Some unexpected options are Sound Drive, an app for making music, and another for showing off your most valuable NFTs. Only a few people have said that Mercedes-Benz’s MBUX infotainment system needs features, and the way it looks on the brand’s wall-to-wall Hyperscreen screens in the electric EQ cars is already pretty cool. But soon, more features will be added to the system. All of them were shown off today at the 2024 CES meeting in Las Vegas. A speech assistant that works more naturally with people has been added to the system. It now has more powerful artificial intelligence (AI). Notably, the program can make responses and tones more sympathetic. Mercedes thinks it can even be rude. It would help if you were careful not to get involved. The virtual helper can get its message across better because the seats have haptic feedback built in, and the ambient lighting changes colors. It also finds out what a driver is doing every day and may use that information to make suggestions. If it knows you’ll be late to a meeting, it might offer to let you virtually join it so you can join the conference call from your car. Streaming Videos This round of updates adds a lot more improvements than just the ability to talk to a computer. Because of a partnership with Antstream Arcade, you will be able to play games in your car. There are old Atari, Nintendo, and Sega games on the site for streaming games. It has also been agreed that Sony Entertainment will offer movies and TV shows through the Ridevu app. These features can be used by the car when it’s not being parked or charged, though. Mercedes says that people who use its level 3 autonomous driving system—which is only available in Germany, California, and Nevada right now—will be able to watch a movie or play their old favorite video game. Full Soundtrack Mercedes has also announced new partnerships for streaming audio material in case you’re away from an area where the self-driving system works or are too scared to try to watch a miniseries while the car takes over. MBUX will combine and improve Amazon Music and Audible, a company that makes podcasts and audiobooks, so they work best with the sound system’s Dolby Atmos spatial audio feature. Audible’s “audio movies” will have famous players like James McAvoy, Michael Sheen, and Gillian Anderson in them. Both speech acting and layered sound effects are used to improve the story. What Didn’t Expect? This is where things start to get weird. MBUX will have a brand-new feature called Sound Drive that lets drivers use their cars as singing instruments in addition to showing their NFTs. Will is a music artist and rapper. I worked with the company to make Sound Drive a reality. The steering, brakes, regenerative braking, and throttle all affect the Sound that plays. Because of this, the driver is also a DJ in addition to being a singer. But the sounds that come out are not the humming that you might hear in an electric car. The system can play a variety of music, from upbeat pop songs to more relaxing choices, depending on how the driver drives. Driving with gusto speeds things up, but speaking slowly and less energetically does the same thing. The first time Will.i.am talked about it, he said, “I can’t think of another dimension of creativity.” “Yes, the sample size was big in the 1980s and 1990s. The computer was great, but this is a different part of the process. It doesn’t matter if they get more SoundCloud fans or not; AMG and Benz drivers are important for the hardware in the MBUX system. From the middle of 2024 on, Mercedes-AMG and Mercedes-Benz cars with the second-generation MBUX software will be able to get Sound Drive through an over-the-air update.
