Epic Games has announced a new Human-Machine Interface (HMI) initiative that will enable the creation of automotive infotainment and digital cockpit experiences. Furthermore, it was revealed that General Motors' soon-to-be-revealed GMC Hummer EV will be the first vehicle to use Unreal Engine in its digital cockpit, with more information coming on October 20, 2020. This new technology, which you can see in the video below, will enable designers, artists, and developers to work directly on the project that is deployed to the vehicle. It will allow for "beautiful, interactive visuals" using its advanced scalable renderer and even downloadable content like a Rocket League pack that will change your virtual car and look of the UI to match the ever-popular game. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/08/unreal-engine-hmi-initiative-automotive"] Epic has created new Unreal Engine alliances with HMI technolgy leaders, including BlackBerry QNX, Mapbox, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., Siili Auto, and Vectorform, which will make it "easier for automotive companies to work more efficiently when building in-vehicle experiences." “We have a dedicated team of artists and engineers who have been working to support new features for HMI. We’re thrilled that the GMC HUMMER EV will be the first vehicle to use Unreal Engine in its digital cockpit, marking an exciting partnership in building next-generation experiences on embedded systems,” said François Antoine, Director of HMI and Embedded Systems, Epic Games. “As we move towards level five vehicle autonomy, in-car infotainment systems will become more and more relevant to influencing consumer purchase decisions, and Unreal Engine will bring new levels of flexibility, interactivity and visual fidelity to these next generation systems.” The Unreal Engine will provide many benefits for a design driven development, including support for version control, visual scripting via Blueprints, and direct access to a C++ codebase that enables more functionality to be exposed. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=unreal-engine-hmi-initiative-screenshots&captions=true"] Epic states that many automotive companies are already using Unreal Engine for car configurations and marketing operations, and these existing projects, assets, and pipeline can "be reused with little effort for HMI systems, only requiring mobile optimization of assets." [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected]. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
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