Bmmpr Presents Cognizant Car ‘Lightning’ at CES 2024
1967 Mustang greets drivers upon arrival and “sleeps” while they’re away…
Bmmpr, a San Francisco-based tech company that builds intelligent hardware, debuted its “cognizant car of the future” named “Lightning” at CES 2024 in Las Vegas.
The completely restored 1967 Mustang fastback demonstrated the company’s technological capabilities during the show, held Jan. 9-12.
“The tech that we’ve integrated into it is very akin to what we do for all vehicles on the road that carry our devices with them,” said Marko Mandaric, Bmmpr co-Founder and CEO. “We identify the authorized user approaching the vehicle. The twist with ‘Lightning’ is we do it in order to create a symphony of animation to greet the user as they approach the vehicle. Departing will also create another animation of a shutdown sequence.”
The Soul Red car with Chaste White racing stripes reacts to its driver based on proximity. The Mustang comes alive when the driver approaches, and goes to “sleep” when the driver walks away. Even while “asleep,” however, the car will monitor for changes at all times, ready to welcome its driver upon return.
Bmmpr’s product for vehicles, Bmmpr × Cars, is an electronic device that turns any car into a smartCar. It works by plugging into a vehicle’s OBD-II port underneath the dash.
Bmmpr × Cars monitors for vibrations, tilt and pressure changes to pick up on catalytic converter and wheel thefts, for example, and break-ins through shattered windows. Sensors within the hardware pick up the signals and immediately send phone alerts via the Bmmpr: Next mobile app.
Mandaric’s idea was to display the product capabilities of Bmmpr’s technology in a classic Mustang. However, fully restoring and programming “Lightning” to interact with its driver proved to be a challenge with twists, turns and rough roads—especially on what turned out to be a very tight timeline, according to a press release.
The process was turned into a video.
“The complete transformation of the classic Mustang into a state-of-the-art, modernized vehicle with the most advanced Bmmpr technology in just four months was no small feat,” Mandaric said. “But whatever happened, we just kept moving forward to get to the finish line—CES 2024.”
Lightning’s renovation was made possible with the support of several sponsors: Peterson Restorations, Mustangs to Fear, EPAS Performance and IDIDIT.
