Bentley's Adaptive Music Tech 🚗 🎧
British Car manufacturer Bentley Motors is planning to come up with technology that enables its cars to play music according to the driving style 👀
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Happy Friday People!
Earlier this week, British car manufacturer and owned by the Volkswagen Group since 1998, Bentley Motors announced that it is trialing a system that can ‘compose a soundtrack’ to a journey, based on the driver’s inputs and driving style.
The classic car manufacturer, founded by W.O Bentley in 1919 in North London, is one of the few remaining companies whose cars are still handmade; right from the engine to the upholstery.
With an approach clearly rooted in tradition and craftsmanship of the early 20th century, what exactly are they planning to do with the new music feature? 🤔
Partnering with LifeScore, industry experts in the field of ‘adaptive music’, and co-founded by Tom Gruber- the former Head of Design for Apple’s voice assistance tool- Siri, the goal is to have music that adapts to the ever-changing driving conditions and the driver’s style 🛣
So how exactly does it work?
The music comes from a soundbank library that contains audio data and recordings, allowing more than 100 billion unique music tracks to be composed for a 60-minute drive.
Bentley said the chance of repetition is minimal, as the raw music is added to sequences and layers to create the final piece.
‘The algorithms are designed to produce compositions that flow through themes and variations achieved by maximizing coherence, minimising repetition of cells and other AI-techniques. Therefore, 1 hour’s worth of human composed cells will generate practically unlimited hours of music,’
Every journey results in a real-time user experience that is deeply personalized. The signals from the vehicle create a unique sonic soundscape that responds to how and where the vehicle is being driven and under what conditions.
But what is the point of having this feature? 🤷♂️
According to Bentley, rather than listening to music to distract from travel, the vehicle is now able to compose an instrumental soundtrack to engage with the journey 🎹
Sounds like something right off a Bond film right?
Too bad that 007 drives an Aston Martin exclusively 👀
Back to the Bentley, how are these audio data and recordings being populated in the soundbank library?
LifeScore utilizes world-class musicians, contemporary and classical instruments, and AI-based tools for recording at the world-famous Abbey Road Studios in London.
All of the audio elements are recorded in fully ambisonic (full-sphere surround sound) audio using more than 50 microphones to provide for all possible future formats.
In the car cabin of the future, the sound can be designed to come from any direction at the highest possible resolution.
For example, when playing music in ‘Cocoon Mode’, as the vehicle is winding through town, the music builds and evolves slowly, and when cruising speed is achieved, the music is sustained and deeply calming.
Similarly, when ‘Enhanced Driving Mode’ is engaged, the music is highly reactive and more exciting, sensing transmission changes, acceleration, and torque, resulting in a high-intensity audio experience where driving style and sound are inextricably linked 🎵
Using AI, the software optimizes the responses in the creation of the music for the driver.
So when will this feature be ready to be shipped by Bentley?
Not until 2025 at least.
Bentley is slated to launch its first Electric Vehicle around that time, as part of a wider strategy to go fully into sustainable luxury cars ⚡️
In what they call the ‘Beyond 100’ strategy, the roadmap for them looks something like 👇🏻
✅ Complete transition to an electric-powered offering by 2030.
✅ Start with the launch of Bentley’s first end-to-end carbon-neutral luxury electric car in 2025.
✅ By 2026, the entire Bentley range will be available only as a battery-powered or plug-in hybrid vehicle
✅ By 2030, every single Bentley will be powered exclusively by electric motors and on-board electric batteries 🔋
With the Bentley brand struggling in 2020, seeing a 2% decline in revenue, and having sold just 11,296 car units, their bet on being the go-to luxury car in the EV segment remains to be played out.
Oh, and keeping the sustainability bit of the Bentley EV aside, if just the adaptive music feature seems enticing to you, be prepared to be set back by anywhere between £150,000-£200,000 💰
So much for not having to change the radio channel right? 😅
That’s it for today, and have a good weekend guys 🍻
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