NVIDIA And Audi Marry Silicon Valley Technology With German Engineering

Source: http://www.nvidia.co.uk/

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http://www.nvidia.co.uk/docs/IO/8659...a8_preview.jpg

2010 INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW (South Hall 4 – Booth #35912), Las Vegas - Jan. 7, 2010 - NVIDIA and Audi announced today that NVIDIA® GPUs power the navigation and entertainment systems in all 2010 Audi vehicles worldwide.

The navigation and entertainment system in the new Audi 2010 product line is the 3G MMI, and it uses NVIDIA GPUs to process and generate all visual imagery. The built-in navigation system features 3D topography of buildings and cities. This system can recognise complex scenarios and make anticipatory decisions to assist the driver, enhancing their ability to drive more safely.

http://www.nvidia.co.uk/docs/IO/8659..._2_preview.jpg

In addition, NVIDIA worked with Audi to develop a complete multimedia engine called VIVA that serves as the media back-bone of 3G MMI. VIVA allows Audi passengers to watch DVDs, listen to music from an iPod, CD, SD card or USB memory stick and enjoy online video content.

NVIDIA and Audi also worked with Google to enable Google Earth ™ on future 3G MMI systems powered by NVIDIA GPUs, beginning in the flagship Audi A8 in 2011. In addition, the next generation NVIDIA Tegra™ ultra low-power HD mobile processors will drive the advanced entertainment and navigation systems in all 2012 Audi vehicles, as well as other Volkswagen AG brands, including Volkswagen, Bentley, Lamborghini, SEAT and SKODA.

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And you can also play Need For Speed while being stuck in a traffic jam.

Just what we need. More crappy gizmos in cars to distract the driver. :down:

A great system if you're in a parking lot or you use it when you pull over, but who's going to do that?

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Originally Posted by freeloader

Just what we need. More crappy gizmos in cars to distract the driver. :down:

A great system if you're in a parking lot or you use it when you pull over, but who's going to do that?

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No, you're right. I think cars should also be banned because you can hit people with them. Cell phones too, the radiation might be dangerous. Whilst we're at it, let's ban bath tubs because people can drown in them and knives because I've heard of people getting stabbed.

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Originally Posted by inCore

No, you're right. I think cars should also be banned because you can hit people with them. Cell phones too, the radiation might be dangerous. Whilst we're at it, let's ban bath tubs because people can drown in them and knives because I've heard of people getting stabbed.

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Give it a rest. Should idiots who can barely drive be allowed to text or make cellphone calls while doing so? Studies have shown that these types of technologies make sober drivers just as bad or worse than drunk drivers. Did I say anything about bathtubs or knives? Get real.

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Originally Posted by inCore

No, you're right. I think cars should also be banned because you can hit people with them. Cell phones too, the radiation might be dangerous. Whilst we're at it, let's ban bath tubs because people can drown in them and knives because I've heard of people getting stabbed.

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No, your analogy is bad. Rather compare it to target practicing in a public area with a .22 while typing an email.

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Originally Posted by freeloader

Give it a rest. Should idiots who can barely drive be allowed to text or make cellphone calls while doing so? Studies have shown that these types of technologies make sober drivers just as bad or worse than drunk drivers. Did I say anything about bathtubs or knives? Get real.

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I'll go out of my way to agree/disagree. I'm sure whomever spends that kind of hard-earned money on a car with gadgets of the sorts is more likely to be cautious on the road with features like that anyway. Although rich daddy's girl may take it a bit more for granted.
I'll admit, Ive adjusted my GPS before, and sent out a handfull of text messages while driving, but I'm very careful when doing it, and I'm usually stopped, or following someone going 5mph when doing it.
Also, notice how its in the center dash, with an open screen that isnt cluttered with readings. They design them that way to keep you looking at the road. I guarantee you, reading a mapquest printout is far more dangerous than one of these units.
As for the media functions, AWSOME! I like my car because I can keep my friends entertained while I drive. I dont need some silly function that disables video's or route changes if the car is moving, the passengers have fingers too you know.

^i know how you feel, my moms infinity has gps built in and only half the commands can be done while driving, yet it has a sensor that turns on the passenger airbag when it knows someone is in there, but the gps dosnt care and assumes its the driver anyway.

there are an excessive number of features to help prevent idiot drivers from killing the rest of us, but honestly theres nothing they can do to stop it altogether, without punishing the rest of the world who understand how to balance mulit-tasking with safety.

Now the world has one more reason to bash nVIDIA for... car crashes/accidents/mishaps :p:

Someone who pays a lot of money on a Audi A8 is likely to like driving and have some previous experience. A8 is not exactly the first car you buy when you get your driver's licence. When I see an M5 and a diesel Peugeot on the road, even if the M5 is speeding, I will trust the M5 to have the better and more experienced driver and I will do my best to avoid the Peugeot... it's most likely to be a girl driving it anyway.
I don't think this alliance is bad. I just wish it was BMW that made this move. We have to consider, by 2011 when this car will arrive to market, HUD's will be mainstream and all premium german cars will have one. The invention of the HUD is the best since sliced bread if you ask me. My car has one and it's great; you barely take your eyes off the road, all the info you would normally search on the dash is projected on the windshield, right in front of you.

nice gimmick... but why do they limit this to one or a few cars?
why dont they make it a tomtom like device and offer it in retail?

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Originally Posted by saaya

nice gimmick... but why do they limit this to one or a few cars?
why dont they make it a tomtom like device and offer it in retail?

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They have to give us at least some reason to upgrade cars I suppose.

They probably have a deal with Audi in which they agree to rename their cars every once in a while to make the lineup look new and avoid working on new stuff :D

i thought audi was already doinhg this for year. They just make one car and then go to the photocopy,chose the size of the resizing they want and then bam ! they have a new audi. Nvidia just dont need to bother with resizing it stuff. So great mind a like goes togheter.

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Originally Posted by snoro

i thought audi was already doinhg this for year. They just make one car and then go to the photocopy,chose the size of the resizing they want and then bam ! they have a new audi. Nvidia just dont need to bother with resizing it stuff. So great mind a like goes togheter.

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Exactly my thoughts about the Q5/Q7 :ROTF:

If it doesn't support custom voices I don't want it. You haven't lived until you've had Beavis & Butthead or Mr.T guiding you through the mean streets of an unfamiliar city.

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Originally Posted by metachronos

If it doesn't support custom voices I don't want it. You haven't lived until you've had Beavis & Butthead or Mr.T guiding you through the mean streets of an unfamiliar city.

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wow, what does though? i could see a very nice prank by modifying the voices of my friends/families cars

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Originally Posted by terente0081

Someone who pays a lot of money on a Audi A8 is likely to like driving and have some previous experience. A8 is not exactly the first car you buy when you get your driver's licence. When I see an M5 and a diesel Peugeot on the road, even if the M5 is speeding, I will trust the M5 to have the better and more experienced driver and I will do my best to avoid the Peugeot... it's most likely to be a girl driving it anyway.
I don't think this alliance is bad. I just wish it was BMW that made this move. We have to consider, by 2011 when this car will arrive to market, HUD's will be mainstream and all premium german cars will have one. The invention of the HUD is the best since sliced bread if you ask me. My car has one and it's great; you barely take your eyes off the road, all the info you would normally search on the dash is projected on the windshield, right in front of you.

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I gather you're not in the US. I found what you describe to be the case in Europe, but the folks driving expensive ultra luxury cars in the US (at least where I live) are usually the ones that are not paying attention and crashing into people.

--Matt

Can't wait for my new NVIDIA equipped RS8 to show up on the truck!

lol^^

NVidia... the way it's meant to be driven?!
Hope these can be overclocked. Vmodded navi systems a gonna take overclocking to the next level! :D

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Originally Posted by freeloader

Just what we need. More crappy gizmos in cars to distract the driver. :down:

A great system if you're in a parking lot or you use it when you pull over, but who's going to do that?

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passengers?

So... Im just wondering here.... Can I set up a nice water cooling system and see how far the core can clock to? Would be fun to draw those nice GPS graphcis at uber high frame rates :)

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Originally Posted by metachronos

If it doesn't support custom voices I don't want it. You haven't lived until you've had Beavis & Butthead or Mr.T guiding you through the mean streets of an unfamiliar city.

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My parents have John Cleese on their GPS, it's pretty amusing :D

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Originally Posted by freeloader

Give it a rest. Should idiots who can barely drive be allowed to text or make cellphone calls while doing so? Studies have shown that these types of technologies make sober drivers just as bad or worse than drunk drivers. Did I say anything about bathtubs or knives? Get real.

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No, they shouldn't be allowed to drive and text / make phone calls at the same time. If you're too much of an idiot to understand that you shouldn't touch the GPS if you're endangering yourself and others, you shouldn't be in a car in the first place.

It's the same thing with people being affected by violent movies and video games, it's not the game's fault. If you can't handle it, keep away from them. If you can't drive, don't.

Quick question, why do you ask if you said anything about bathtubs or knives? How is that relevant? Why would I have to specifically rebut only what you said and nothing else?

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Originally Posted by Oj101

No, your analogy is bad. Rather compare it to target practicing in a public area with a .22 while typing an email.

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Whilst I agree that my analogies were sub-par, they were meant to symbolize that I disagree with the whole trend of banning things. Comparing cars, primarily a method of transport, to firearms, primarily a method of killings things (yes, yes, can be used as a sporting device, blablabla) shows exactly what I think is the problem. The premise seems to be that cars are out there waiting to kill us.

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Originally Posted by dietwaterrr

passengers?

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This too. All of the fancy features are clearly said to be for the passenger. The driver only gets some cool 3D terrain, which shouldn't really be that distracting if you've:

1. Had the car for more than 7 minutes
2. Ever taken a look outside and notice that the world is, in fact, not a flat surface and a 3D representation kind of makes sense
3. Reached the age of twelve.

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Originally Posted by dietwaterrr

passengers?

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It's sitting right where the driver is. When we have cars that can drive themselves safely, then by all means install all the bells and whistles that you want. :up:

German unreliability is scary. Engineering smearing, our sl500 has been crazy unreliable and our x5 has been burning oil since the day we got it. Audi I heard is the worst compared to BMW and Mercedes, so I would hate to have one. Although the s5 are sexy.

You can buy an Archos 7 for cheaper probably and it will do as much and/or more...

Just wish it was X86 or X64 so you could put Win7 on it lol..

Saw it. Sucked.

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Originally Posted by tajoh111

German unreliability is scary. Engineering smearing, our sl500 has been crazy unreliable and our x5 has been burning oil since the day we got it. Audi I heard is the worst compared to BMW and Mercedes, so I would hate to have one. Although the s5 are sexy.

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That's way off-topic, but do you think you can generalize this way? I don't think so. Imagine the amount of German cars here in Germany... if there was any of this unreliability you claimed, then these companies (which are premium car makers) would already be dead. :rolleyes:

BTW, these premium car makers are always the pioneers in developing/selling newest technology and we should be thankful that technology moves on. It's the same principle with our hobby here.

for these technologies to be safe for a driver to use, I think the industry needs to start moving things onto a display on the windshield, like the BMW "heads up" display. Sort of like a HUD on the driver's side of the windshield, displaying a minimap(&route guidance on it), speed(&gear) and fuel. Us FPS gamers have become at home watching our mini-map, and shooting noobs.. the same idea should carry over well to cars.

Dont most console infotainment systems lock themselves, so you can't play around with it while you drive? My range rover sport does.

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Originally Posted by saaya

nice gimmick... but why do they limit this to one or a few cars?
why dont they make it a tomtom like device and offer it in retail?

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Google Earth integration into Audi's MMI Navigation system is capable on ALL 2010 models equipped with the system. A friend at Audi HQ in Germany informed me that they're putting Google Earth on the A8 and R8 first for 2010 models, and by 2012... all Audi models with navigation will have this feature included.

I was also informed that my 2010 A4 which has Navigation and the 5.1ch Bang and Olfson sound system will be updated with Google Earth when the 2011 navigation update is released later this year.


edit: and sorry for bringing up older news, but I wanted to add the information about how this would be on ALL models, etc. Also, I just went out to my car to shoot a short video showing off the MMI Navigation, Bang & Olfson sound system, video quality, etc. It's quite spectacular (not my video... the actual system)

... lemme get a link.

Edit again: The chip in my car is the Tegra 2 GPU. (still uploading video file)

http://www.kalionzes.net/video/Audi_MMI.mkv (112mb 9min mkv. And about the great steady camera... even with image stabilization you can tell I've been drinking).

nice system
I wish it could have a variant for VW Beatles 1960 too

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Originally Posted by Chruschef

for these technologies to be safe for a driver to use, I think the industry needs to start moving things onto a display on the windshield, like the BMW "heads up" display. Sort of like a HUD on the driver's side of the windshield, displaying a minimap(&route guidance on it), speed(&gear) and fuel. Us FPS gamers have become at home watching our mini-map, and shooting noobs.. the same idea should carry over well to cars.

Dont most console infotainment systems lock themselves, so you can't play around with it while you drive? My range rover sport does.

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Yes, a HUD will be a great addition. But the most important thing is getting the concept correct on the first attempt. Have any of you guys used BMW's 1st generation "I-Drive"??? It was the most complex POS of gadgetry i've ever seen. I've spent countless hours driving M5's and M6's when I worked for AC Schnitzer (CEC Wheels here in the US), and I was never comfortable with the setup. In contrast, after only a few days in this new Audi A4 I was able to do every Nav/stereo/climate control/etc with either my voice or my right hand when It's not being used to shift gears.


Oh... and if you hadn't noticed, between the gauges in all Audi's is a display which shows you navigation directions, song titles, all phone functions, etc. It's much more simple than the main navigation screen and keeps your eyes where they should be... straight ahead.

Audi is indeed coming out with an HUD in a year or two. It's going to be a full color laser projection system and will be light-years ahead of the competition... much like they are with their interior styling.

Speaking of which... *ROFL* http://www.worldcarfans.com/11005282...iors/lowphotos

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Dont most console infotainment systems lock themselves, so you can't play around with it while you drive? My range rover sport does.

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Yes. Audi's does as well. But that is easily changed by plugging in a VAG-COM cable from a laptop and a few mouse clicks. There are dozens of cool mods you can do in addition to that like rolling up and down your windows with the remote (great for hot summer days), keeping the fog/driving lights on while the high beams are on, making the front LED city lights stay on instead of blink when using a turn indicator, monitoring turbo boost in the display on the gauge cluster, and more).

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Originally Posted by SAE

That's way off-topic, but do you think you can generalize this way? I don't think so. Imagine the amount of German cars here in Germany... if there was any of this unreliability you claimed, then these companies (which are premium car makers) would already be dead. :rolleyes:

BTW, these premium car makers are always the pioneers in developing/selling newest technology and we should be thankful that technology moves on. It's the same principle with our hobby here.

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http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...ing_N.htm#Best

The japanese typically dominate reliability. I like german cars for their looks, but their reliability sucks from my personal experience and they tend to be less reliable overall by statistics. Jaguar and Range rover typically have attrocious reliability as well and tend to go near bottom of the barrel. The sad thing these are saying European automakers have improved, which means they used to be doing much worse.

I appreciate alot of the german innovation, but sometimes I feel like a beta tester buying a new model only to have that new feature die out on me or have a glaring obvious flaw when in use. E.g new bmw 3 series sedan GPS, no touch screen to type in commands and you have to use the idrive joystick to type in commands and directions.

I want to ask you just one question do you know where your mercedes and bmw were produced?

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Originally Posted by freeloader

Give it a rest. Should idiots who can barely drive be allowed to text or make cellphone calls while doing so? Studies have shown that these types of technologies make sober drivers just as bad or worse than drunk drivers. Did I say anything about bathtubs or knives? Get real.

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Studies also show 9 out of 10 people prefer to watch gangbangs.

So studies are studies. Honestly if the person sucks at driving they shouldn't be driving, but welcome to the world humans have made.

so................. what is this thing? GPS tessellation? or a car heater? :D