Rinspeed Budii previewed in creepy video before Geneva auto show

SHOULD WE WELCOME OUR NEW AUTONOMOUS DRIVING OVERLORDS?

   Rinspeed, the Swiss maker of one-offs and concept cars that is in constant competition with Giugiaro, the Italian maker of one-offs and concept cars, has released a video of its upcoming Geneva motor show car dubbed Budii. Imagined as an autonomous car, the Budii is the culmination of Rinspeed's design and technology philosophy which it has most recently expressed in the form of the Xchange concept shown at the 2014 Geneva show.

    The exterior of the Budii concept of course uses a BMW i3 shell and platform, but the similarities end once you take a look inside. This autonomous car concept has been outfitted with foldaway controls seen on the Xchange concept a year ago, and is meant to preview the way in which self-driving cars will reshape our lives.

But having watched the video above, we're now a little more hesitant to welcome our new autonomous driving overlords.

Rinspeed's short preview film is narrated in a hushed, slightly menacing voice that creates an atmosphere drenched in tension, with the concept car accompanying its supposed owners with a periscopic cyclopean lens shaped like a security video camera from a suburban bank.

PHOTO BY RINSPEED

    "The autonomously driving car will require more than solving technical problems and legal issues in the next two decades. We not only have to redefine the interaction of man and machine, but must also raise questions about responsibility, tolerances and expectations," Rinspeed boss Frank Rinderknecht explains. "But even the best technology will not be perfect, albeit less prone to error than humans. That is something we will have to accept."

    We'll take a closer look at the Budii concept when it debuts at the Geneva motor show after we wipe away the cold sweat from our forehead and lower back, but for now the company has shared that the infotainment in this concept was developed by Harman, while the electrically powered periscope dubbed TrackView was built by the Hamburg-based Ibeo Automotive Systems. The concept car also incorporates vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure technology. Overall, more than 25 companies have lent their wares to this concept.