Development Began with the Idea of Safety Through Reading Others' Intentions

Mercedes-Benz always generates significant buzz at auto shows. At the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show, they unveiled a concept model that made us wonder, "Is this what luxury sedans will be like in the 2030s?" Passengers converse facing each other as if in a lounge, while the car drives itself. It's an astonishingly high-tech vehicle.

The concept model, "F015 Luxury in Motion," stops for pedestrians and communicates its intentions using various LED lights. While Mercedes-Benz Japan's tagline for the car is "This is no longer the 'future,'" it's remarkable that this is becoming a reality.

"The technologies that will lead to future autonomous driving are already established to this extent." At the Tokyo Motor Show, Mercedes-Benz Japan distributed flyers to visitors with this phrase printed in particularly large letters. It's a very exciting statement. The concept car this time has a bold design, and what the manufacturer is trying to convey also has an exciting resonance.

Mankowsky and the F015 Luxury in Motion

Mr. Alexander Mankowsky

To further convey the true value of the F015 Luxury in Motion, Mercedes-Benz Japan organized a technical seminar, commonly known as "Tec Day." The aim was to inform the press about the technical standards of Daimler, the parent company of the Mercedes-Benz brand, and their approach to vehicle development.

Three experts from Germany participated: Holger Feistzenlaub (Senior Manager, Advanced Design, Mercedes-Benz), Alexander Mankowsky (Daimler, Scientist for Future Studies and Concept Development), and Peter Lehmann (Daimler Group Research, Mercedes-Benz Cars, Head of Engineering and Implementation).

During the initial overview presentation with slides, an image of a skating rink appeared alongside the words "Shared Intention." The reason for using this image, explained Alexander Mankowsky, who researches artificial intelligence (AI), is that people on a crowded rink rarely collide with each other.

"Safety is achieved by reading the intentions of others. Development started from that concept." Isn't that interesting?

Autonomous Driving is Now at a Stage of Considering its Relationship with People and Cities

"Mercedes-Benz is not merely stopping at autonomous driving technology but is advancing the realization of 'autonomous driving cars' from 'automatic cars.'" This is an excerpt from a press release issued by Daimler in March 2015 regarding the F015 Luxury in Motion.

The film of the F015 Luxury in Motion, on which autonomous driving tests are steadily progressing, features several intriguing scenes. In one, the vehicle stops when a pedestrian stands by the roadside. It projects icons resembling a crosswalk onto the road using laser beams. This is a sign that the vehicle automatically recognizes the pedestrian and stops to allow them to cross.

Another scene shows the F015 Luxury in Motion driving near children sitting casually on the grass and pavement in what appears to be a park. One might wonder if it's safe, but Mercedes assures us it is. "Autonomous driving for Mercedes is... at a stage of considering its relationship with people and cities" (from the aforementioned brochure).

"The artificial intelligence (AI) research we started over 20 years ago is now proving useful," says Alexander Mankowsky (Daimler, Scientist for Future Studies and Concept Development), who was involved in the development of the F015 Luxury in Motion.

"In 2007, I attended a robotics challenge hosted by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and became fascinated by the potential of robots. Upon returning to our headquarters in Stuttgart, I advocated for the need for robots in our company. However, the response was, 'We want cars.' Next, I emphasized the importance of AI, arguing that a car is not just about beautiful design." Finally, Daimler agreed and gave the green light for development.

"What was crucial was thoroughly refining what kind of AI a car needs. We concluded that a car's AI does not need to mimic humans. This is because the primary focus for future cars will be on how autonomously they can drive, and the foundation for this lies in effectively utilizing past statistical data and big data. For example, when a car encounters a new situation, the details of that event are instantly shared with other vehicles via the cloud, and how that situation was handled is also uploaded to the cloud as experiential knowledge. We determined this to be important, differing from the approach of mimicking the human brain."

"We are striving to create a comprehensive experience. The same can be said for design," says Holger Feistzenlaub, who is in charge of advanced design.

The Future S-Class

Zeitgeist. It's interesting that the German word, sometimes seen in academic papers, was used to describe the F015 Luxury in Motion. Zeitgeist translates to "spirit of the age" in Japanese, and it seems to be a keyword for the F015 Luxury in Motion.

"While carefully balancing the digital and physical worlds, we considered what would constitute a stimulating form today," says Holger Feistzenlaub, Senior Manager of Advanced Design at Mercedes-Benz. The use of light (lamps and laser lights) as a means of communication is particularly innovative, but meticulous attention has also been paid to the styling.

"With windows featuring screen printing that is not transparent from the outside, it might resemble a UFO. However, we have taken great care to make the fenders bulge out assertively, giving it a powerful appearance."

Mr. Holger Feistzenlaub

Mr. Peter Lehmann

The F015 Luxury in Motion is consistently discussed with two key aspects in mind, as exemplified by Daimler CEO Dr. Dieter Zetsche's description: "a mobile living space." One is the interior, described as "an elegant, high-quality, bright, and comfortable lounge-like space" (press materials). The other is its functionality, where "constant communication is maintained between the vehicle, occupants, and the outside world" (ibid.).

Regarding the body, however, little is actively discussed beyond the factual dimensions: a length of 5220mm, width of 2018mm, and height of 1524mm, utilizing a long wheelbase of 3610mm. Therefore, Feistzenlaub's explanation, such as "We adopted 26-inch wheels to avoid the body looking excessively large, like a minivan," is refreshing.

"As it has the potential to be the S-Class of the future, the body is large, but we made many efforts to avoid making it appear so. Although the wheelbase is long, we aimed for a monovolume profile to prevent it from looking huge. On the other hand, to dispel any sense of sluggishness, when viewed from the side, the visual center is around the GPS antenna, and the roof forms a dynamic curve around that point. It was important to give it a dynamic impression while making it appear low."

Feistzenlaub continues, "Nevertheless, the F015 Luxury in Motion is a car designed from the inside out." Underscoring this point, Peter Lehmann added, "What we are constantly considering with this car is the relationship between the city and the automobile."

"With the increasing hyper-density of cities, preventing the suffering of commuting due to traffic congestion and avoiding accidents involving people or other traffic are crucial for future vehicles," says Lehmann, who belongs to Daimler Group Research and heads Engineering and Implementation for Mercedes-Benz Cars. "In this car, the operator will be in a position more akin to a conductor, giving instructions to the vehicle."

At the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2015, Mercedes-Benz presented the "Concept IAA," a concept model whose body shape changes while driving to significantly reduce air resistance. At the Tokyo Motor Show, they unveiled "Vision Tokyo" for the first time, a mobile lounge for young people. What's intriguing is Feistzenlaub's statement: "The underlying concept is sharing the environment in a broad sense." Mercedes is steadily moving forward.