Mercedes-Benz, with The Foundry, brings Hollywood into the vehicle

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Sept. 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

• Mercedes-Benz and The Foundry collaborate to design the next-generation customer interface concept
• New User Interface showing real-time rendering in-vehicle offers consumers a beautiful, cinematic in-car experience
• Mercedes-Benz Concept IAA show car provides an idea of the new in-car experience

Today, Mercedes-Benz and The Foundry unveiled Mercedes' next-generation customer interface concept, which was shown in the recently launched show car Concept IAA (Intelligent Aerodynamic Automobile).

The solution, code named "Project Dash," for the first time connects a true UI/UX designer's tool directly to the in-car experience. What the designer works with in the creative process in the design studio is identical to what the customer ends up experiencing. In addition to this seamless delivery in real-time, the solution frees engineering teams to focus on performance and accessibility.

"At Mercedes-Benz, we strive to achieve the most beautiful and powerful driving experience for our customers," said Sajjad Khan, Vice President Digital Vehicle & Mobility, Daimler AG. "This extends to our in-vehicle display and with our new show car we revealed a quality of real-time rendering that was previously unattainable. As there was no automotive technology in the market to do this, we've teamed up with The Foundry to bring for the first time ever in automotive industry Hollywood quality visuals and imaging into the car."

Project Dash is a collaborative effort between The Foundry and Mercedes' design and engineering teams. The Foundry, which develops creative software for VFX, games and design artists, has a long history of partnering with companies to develop elegant solutions for complex digital visualization challenges. Being present in the Silicon Valley, Mercedes-Benz Research and Development identified this state of the art digital technology and initiated a partnership with with The Foundry. Project Dash leverages The Foundry's proven content creation and visualization knowledge and applies it to address Mercedes' specific design challenge - to achieve high-quality, real-time renderings in their in-vehicle UI/UX.

Also, Project Dash addresses universal design challenges. First, it ensures the realization of design intent by removing technology barriers. Second, it substantially reduces the time and cost associated with design iteration. Third, as the IoT grows, it allows companies to continually enhance and seamlessly deliver the highest quality UI/UX design to consumers. As a result, Project Dash elevates both the way in which UI/UX design happens, as well as the speed with which companies can respond to consumer needs.

"Mercedes-Benz has a heritage of ground-breaking innovations that have dramatically influenced the automotive industry," said Bill Collis, chief executive officer of The Foundry. "Our partnership continues this innovation, creating this new way of enabling UX/UI design. This makes it possible for Mercedes designers to be more creative and responsive to consumer's needs, which in turn, provides the driver with an ever more beautiful, relevant and engaging in-car experience."

Mercedes-Benz unveiled this new UX/UI design collaboration with The Foundry at the 20th Anniversary of Mercedes-Benz Research and Development Center in Sunnyvale, CA.

About The Foundry
The Foundry develops award-winning creative software used globally by leading artists, designers and creative professionals. The portfolio lets users create inspiring and technical high-end visuals in the areas of Media Production (film, commercial, episodic, gaming and VR/AR), and Design (enterprise and creative), as well as participate in emerging high-growth markets such as 3D printing. The Foundry's wholly owned subsidiary, Made With Mischief, develops simple, creative and accessible tools and applications that empower people to explore ideas and create. Clients include Mercedes, Pixar, ILM, Double Negative, The Moving Picture Company, Walt Disney Animation, Weta Digital, Framestore and Sony Pictures Imageworks. In 2015, the London Stock Exchange named The Foundry one of its "1000 Companies to Inspire Britain" and the 2015 Sunday Times HSBC Fast Track included The Foundry on its International Track, marking the sixth time The Foundry made one of the Fast Track lists. In 2013, The Foundry's CEO Bill Collis was recognized as the UK Technology winner for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.

© The Foundry, its logo and product names are registered trademarks in the UK, USA and/or other countries.

To find out more, visit us at The Foundry or follow us on LinkedIn,YouTube, FACEBOOK, Twitter, Google + and Vimeo. To find out more about Made With Mischief, visit us at Made With Mischief, FACEBOOK and Twitter.

SOURCE Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America

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