Ditching the trappings of the typical car, the Vision Next 100 ‘103 EX’ gives the look of an otherworldly pod from the future. Lounge inside two-door luxe ride surrounded by a 360 degree glass canopy, which lifts as you emerge, and the ground gets illuminated for a complete red carpet entrance. Welcome to the future of ecstasy
Rolls-Royce just took a giant leap into the future with the Vision Next 100. The luxury car firm debuted the Vision Next 100 at a special event in London, echoing something its parent company BMW did back in March with the BMW Vision Next 100, but perhaps Rolls-Royce is even bolder in its vision than BMW itself.
The Vision Next 100 ‘103 EX’ ditches a good deal of the familiar ‘car-like’ trappings in favor of an exterior that feels more like an otherworldly rectangular pod. The Vision Next 100 is a fully autonomous zero-emissions vehicle with absolutely no steering wheel or instrument panel (there is instead a cabin-wide OLED display)… Yet there’s still that iconic Spirit of Ecstasy gleaming at the front, marking it as, unmistakably, a Rolls-Royce.
Speaking of the Spirit of Ecstasy, there will be one inside the vehicle too. This would be the “Voice of Eleanor,” a Siri-like smart system named after Eleanor Thornton, the model for the marque’s iconic Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament. As the car’s artificial-intelligence platform, Eleanor will provide the next generation of connectivity—not only being able to call for the car to pick a person up, but actually handling the driving while getting to the destination in the most efficient way possible. The program will also manage an individual’s schedule, making suggestions on route selection, based on time and traffic, and adjusting accordingly. The virtual personal assistant can be viewed on the visual display in the interior. She’ll track your personal tastes, make recommendations, and run your appointments. All this falls in with one of the basic tenets of luxury, which is to do nothing that you don’t want to do.
The Vision Next 100’s form is as impressive as its functionality. Each bespoke, hand-built example will measure a massive 19 feet long and over 5 feet tall and will feature an elongated hood and a hand-cut glass canopy. From the front, polished metal (pronounced on the Pantheon grille) rises over the nose and suspended laser headlights, extending along the doors and around the rear. This artistic element further delineates the two-tone color scheme, contrasting the dark glass upper body with the lower section’s shimmering silver “Crystal Water” treatment. The otherworldly ride rolls on 28-inch covered wheels (crafted from 65 handmade pieces of aluminum) that are complemented by state-of-the-art suspension for an effortless journey.
Inside, the completely customizable cabin will indeed be a grand sanctuary ensconced in Macassar wood paneling and deep-pile ivory wool carpeting. The Rolls-Royce’s concept of ‘luxury in details’ completely stays. For instance, the car has a finely-crafted analogue clock above the screen. It shows the history of Sir Henry Royce’s humble beginnings as an electrical pioneer and of time as the ultimate luxury.
Occupants of this ultra luxe ride will find themselves in a lavish cabin surrounded by a 360-degree glass canopy. Upon arrival at the destination, the canopy will lift, a step will emerge, and the ground will be illuminated for a virtual red-carpet entrance. Yes, this vision of the future comes with a couch because someone at Rolls-Royce was paying heed to all those jokes car writers make about the Good wood firm’s penchant for creating luxury living rooms on wheels.
“The grand arrival of the Rolls-Royce Vision Next 100 boldly points to a bright future for our marque where our patrons’ individual demands for complete and authentic personalization will be met through an exquisite fusion of technology, design and hallmark Rolls-Royce craftsmanship,” said CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös at the concept’s launch. In coming up with the Vision 100, the design team led by Giles Taylor tried to imagine what cars would look like a century into the future. They decided that four key ingredients were important – personal vision; an effortless journey; a grand sanctuary; and the grand arrival.
Well, this is only the beginning. As things develop we can expect more automation, more exclusivity and definitely more pampering.
(Source: www.luxuo.com
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