Unlike other events at CES, events where it's all about the pixel count and calories burned, the Audi keynote Monday night highlighted an extra dimension to engage the senses.
Through the fog, laser light show and booming soundtrack, the air smelled like driven emotion, faint wisps of exhaust fumes that hint at a lively racket of gasoline-injected cylinders, purring gently behind the curtain.
But when the machinery rolls on to the stage, something was missing. It wasn't the chiselled lines of a luxury German car, nor was it an outlandish design to suggest this was a concept you'll only read about once.
The driver was absent from the front-left seat of this dull grey Audi A7. This car was self-piloted, manoeuvring itself onto the stage and stopping just before the steps leading toward hundreds of spectators.
And in the trunk, there was no giant suitcase-sized box containing copious amounts of computer chips acting as a digital driver to keep the car on track.
Audi, with the help of partners including Nvidia, shrunk the self-driving "brains" down to a circuit board the size of an Apple iPad, that's nestled behind the driver-side rear wheel well.
Self-driving car closer to reality
"The prototype period is almost over," Ulrich Hackenberg, member of the board at Audi for technical development, told the audience.
It's not a simple task, however. A system that includes cameras, lasers, positioning sensors and locators provide 2.5-billion inputs a second for the self-driving computer to process.
Crunching all the numbers is the Nvidia Tegra K1, which features a space-saving, 192-processor core "super chip."
In the real world, the latest self-driving system can share information from these inputs with other vehicles through a wireless LTE connection.
So, if the folks in Ingolstadt can make a car that is capable of driving on its own, why can't you just pop down to your local Audi Autohaus to buy one?
There's still some refining to do, but the big hurdle is a legal one. Changing laws and regulations isn't simple. But Hackenberg believes the change will take place over time.
"I'm sure you will see it step by step, depending also on the legal situation," Hackenberg told CTVNews.ca.
But as soon as those legal roadblocks are sorted out, Audi seems to be ready for the next step.
"We are prepared to bring those technologies into our cars," he said, adding that the next-generation A8 could feature a self-piloting system "in two to three years."
Better LEDs, time for laser headlights?
Another area of innovation Audi is showing here in Vegas is the use of smarter LED lighting systems. For example, little computers controlling each LED can dim if the car senses an oncoming pedestrian or cyclist –- this way they're not stunned by sudden light.
Lasers, meanwhile, could be used in car headlamps and provide three times the brightness of LEDs, with the potential to illuminate five football fields. Expect to see a form of laser headlamps fitted to next-generation LeMans cars, says Audi Chairman and CEO Rupert Stadler.
Connected cars for a connected generation
The challenge to make cars more connected to our everyday lives is still one that Audi is working to overcome. While production cars take years to develop, new smartphones and tablets can hit the market much more quickly, Stadler says, adding that the car "will become the largest mobile device people own."
In a move to accelerate collaboration, Audi is one of a few automakers to team up with Google to establish the Open Automotive Alliance.
Audi hopes that the connection between mobile gadgets and the machines that move people will interest current customers, along with the next generation of drivers.
"Young people like cars and like connectivity and like the gadgets," Stadler tells CTVNews.ca. "We try to connect the two status symbols in the best way."
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