News
October 9, 2025
Five years, 35 car models: how Unreal Engine is accelerating HMI innovation
Five years ago, Epic Games launched a new human-machine interface (HMI) initiative with a vision to bring real-time rendering and AAA-quality visuals into the car cockpit.
When we started in 2019, most HMIs were purely functional—often consisting of vanilla advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and center stack interfaces.
Our goal was to empower HMI UI designers to create highly engaging 2D and 3D infotainment experiences by promoting design-driven development: breaking free from traditional HMI workflows and enabling designers to dynamically impact projects as they quickly iterate and incorporate functionality into their designs.
Today, over 35 car models have shipped with Unreal Engine HMI—including from brands like Ford, GM, Rivian, Geely, Lotus, Lincoln, Volvo—and the real-time engine is powering digital dashboard experiences in more than two million cars on the road.
When we started in 2019, most HMIs were purely functional—often consisting of vanilla advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and center stack interfaces.
Our goal was to empower HMI UI designers to create highly engaging 2D and 3D infotainment experiences by promoting design-driven development: breaking free from traditional HMI workflows and enabling designers to dynamically impact projects as they quickly iterate and incorporate functionality into their designs.
Today, over 35 car models have shipped with Unreal Engine HMI—including from brands like Ford, GM, Rivian, Geely, Lotus, Lincoln, Volvo—and the real-time engine is powering digital dashboard experiences in more than two million cars on the road.
We’re now at the point where Unreal Engine is fast becoming the de facto industry standard in immersive, design-driven digital cockpits.
To celebrate five years of HMI progress for UE, this article will dive into how the engine has seen real-world adoption and explore the different ways auto brands are leaning into powerful UE-powered HMIs.
To celebrate five years of HMI progress for UE, this article will dive into how the engine has seen real-world adoption and explore the different ways auto brands are leaning into powerful UE-powered HMIs.
© Rivian Automotive, LLC. All rights reserved.
Courtesy of Ford
Courtesy of Geely Auto
Courtesy of Volvo Cars
Image copyright © Lotus Technology Innovative Limited 2024. All rights reserved.
From early innovators to mainstream adoption
HMI has come a long way since 1983. Back then, the Nissan 300ZX and Buick Riviera blazed a trail with fully digital dashboards consisting of futuristic (for the time) LCD displays.
Fast-forward forty years and you’ll find cars on showroom floors that contain an array of technologies that include augmented reality (AR) head-up displays, advanced 3D graphics, and AI-driven personalization.
In 2020, General Motors GMC HUMMER EV became the first vehicle to feature Unreal Engine as a proof of concept in its digital cockpit. The visually rich and immersive experience that Unreal Engine brought to the vehicle’s interior soon saw other leading brands sit up and take note.
The following year, the Rivian R1T became the first commercial vehicle to ship to the mass market with a UE-powered digital cockpit. “Unreal Engine just blew all of the other options out of the water, and it had the best graphics, it had the highest quality,” said Eddy Reyes, Sr. Manager, Embedded Software In-Vehicle Experiences at Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies. “It was an easy decision.”
That was swiftly followed by an avalanche of big automotive players—Ford’s seventh-generation Mustang shipped with a personalizable, gamified user interface that included features like custom color themes, unique gauge designs, and interactive 3D elements. UE-powered HMI was expanded to the Ford Explorer and Ford Expedition, as well as the Navigator and Nautilus models in the latest lineup of Lincoln luxury SUVs.
Soon after, Sony Honda Mobility, Lucid Motors, Volvo Cars, Lotus, Geely, Smart, and Lynk & Co all swelled the ranks of mobility leaders choosing next-gen HMI experiences powered by Unreal Engine.
In five years, Unreal Engine had gone from a test case for early innovators to widespread mainstream adoption across the auto industry.
The following year, the Rivian R1T became the first commercial vehicle to ship to the mass market with a UE-powered digital cockpit. “Unreal Engine just blew all of the other options out of the water, and it had the best graphics, it had the highest quality,” said Eddy Reyes, Sr. Manager, Embedded Software In-Vehicle Experiences at Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies. “It was an easy decision.”
That was swiftly followed by an avalanche of big automotive players—Ford’s seventh-generation Mustang shipped with a personalizable, gamified user interface that included features like custom color themes, unique gauge designs, and interactive 3D elements. UE-powered HMI was expanded to the Ford Explorer and Ford Expedition, as well as the Navigator and Nautilus models in the latest lineup of Lincoln luxury SUVs.
Soon after, Sony Honda Mobility, Lucid Motors, Volvo Cars, Lotus, Geely, Smart, and Lynk & Co all swelled the ranks of mobility leaders choosing next-gen HMI experiences powered by Unreal Engine.
In five years, Unreal Engine had gone from a test case for early innovators to widespread mainstream adoption across the auto industry.
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Over that time, HMI itself has shifted dramatically. OEMs have transitioned from utilitarian and often fairly generic user interfaces to HMIs that are expressive, design-driven, and deeply visual.
Unreal Engine has played a key role in that evolution by giving automakers a canvas to bring their brand identity and user experience to life in real time.
Rivian
Rivan’s R1T HMIs are a perfect example of what’s possible when best-in-class design meets dynamic interactivity.
Rivian integrated an Unreal Engine-powered HMI into both the first and second generations of its R1T electric pickup truck, with second generation R1 vehicles expanding the use of Unreal Engine from the driver’s display to the infotainment system.
© Rivian Automotive, LLC. All rights reserved.
The latest HMI update delivers a first-of-its-kind look, with scenes that feel alive and enable drivers to interact with them via a touch screen. This user interface, powered by Unreal Engine, brings a unique and playful illustration style augmented with real-time graphics.
“Unreal Engine not only helped us create the appearance of the drive modes in a very agile and iterative way, but it also allowed us to make each mode more dynamic,” explains Reyes.
“For example, any mode can smoothly transition into another mode the driver chooses. And even when the mode settles, the vehicle and environment around it remain dynamic. The viewer will see clouds, grass, flowers, and trees moving. They can even touch the vehicle with two fingers and pivot it around, and the environment moves with it in three dimensions.”
With both design and engineering teams working in Unreal Engine, Rivian’s new reimagined UI experience was brought to life in just six months.
“Unreal Engine not only helped us create the appearance of the drive modes in a very agile and iterative way, but it also allowed us to make each mode more dynamic,” explains Reyes.
“For example, any mode can smoothly transition into another mode the driver chooses. And even when the mode settles, the vehicle and environment around it remain dynamic. The viewer will see clouds, grass, flowers, and trees moving. They can even touch the vehicle with two fingers and pivot it around, and the environment moves with it in three dimensions.”
With both design and engineering teams working in Unreal Engine, Rivian’s new reimagined UI experience was brought to life in just six months.
Geely
Geely’s Galaxy E8’s 8K display demonstrates the power of Unreal Engine for delivering seamless real-time performance while maintaining low system consumption, smooth operation, and high visual fidelity.
Courtesy of Geely Auto
Inspired by the night sky, the Chinese automaker’s award-winning flagship model incorporates wow-factor features like dynamic, time-dependent ambient lighting. When a user opens one of the Galaxy E8’s doors on a rainy or snowy day, simulated starlight flows from one side to the other, creating an immersive and atmospheric effect.
The star of the show, however, is a 45-inch, 8K-resolution boundless smart screen with 2D and 3D graphics powered by Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.’s Snapdragon Cockpit Platform and Unreal Engine.
The star of the show, however, is a 45-inch, 8K-resolution boundless smart screen with 2D and 3D graphics powered by Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.’s Snapdragon Cockpit Platform and Unreal Engine.
Courtesy of Geely Auto
The user interface also features an interactive 3D digital twin of the vehicle that enables users to control functions like headlights, doors, windows, and the trunk. Various car control representations, such as air conditioning airflow, were also developed using Unreal Engine.
Ford and Lincoln
The story of Unreal Engine HMI at Ford is one of scale and quality consistency.
The engine was originally chosen to power the HMI in the new Ford Mustang, with in-car features controlled via the innovative My Mustang app: drive modes, customizable clusters, gauges, launch control, ambient lighting, and personalization features.
Courtesy of Ford
This initial concept provided Ford’s Digital Product Design team with the pipeline to prototype in real time, test on embedded hardware, and directly connect designers with engineers, which in turn enabled the creation of a digital twin of the vehicle—unifying exterior, interior, and HMI visualization in one workflow.
The pipeline Ford had established was a solid foundation on which to scale. Its Mustang program proved UE could run on embedded hardware with production performance—with optimized startup times, memory, and frame rate.
Using Unreal Engine, designers could iterate directly in engine, cutting down months of review and feedback cycles.
Ford had a template for its cross-vehicle HMI strategy, and soon expanded the use of UE-powered HMI to models including the Explorer, Expedition, Lincoln Navigator, and others.
The pipeline Ford had established was a solid foundation on which to scale. Its Mustang program proved UE could run on embedded hardware with production performance—with optimized startup times, memory, and frame rate.
Using Unreal Engine, designers could iterate directly in engine, cutting down months of review and feedback cycles.
Ford had a template for its cross-vehicle HMI strategy, and soon expanded the use of UE-powered HMI to models including the Explorer, Expedition, Lincoln Navigator, and others.
Courtesy of Lincoln
What’s more, these HMIs are no longer isolated screens—Unreal is powering cohesive, real-time vehicle experiences. The latest HMI programs scale beyond Mustang’s personalization focus into full vehicle control, ADAS visualization, and dynamic UI/UX.
What began as a hero program in Mustang has become the backbone of Ford and Lincoln’s digital cockpit strategy, with Unreal Engine empowering Ford to deliver HMIs that are expressive, brand-defining, and continuously scalable across their lineup.
What began as a hero program in Mustang has become the backbone of Ford and Lincoln’s digital cockpit strategy, with Unreal Engine empowering Ford to deliver HMIs that are expressive, brand-defining, and continuously scalable across their lineup.
Siili Auto
Finland-based Siili Auto serves tier one and auto makers with the latest in human-machine interfaces.
If you’ve ever been impressed by the digital bells and whistles on a modern car, there’s a good chance Silli has provided the tech that powers it.
Courtesy of Siili Auto
Ease of development and quality of graphics are what originally attracted Silli to Unreal Engine—but where it gets really interesting is the impact UE has had on Silli’s development cycle.
“In the old days, the designers specified the UI and the flow of the UI, as well as the graphics components exactly, in a different tool,” said Jami Järviö, CSM and Partner Manager at Siili Auto.
But the developers, he explained, would use a completely different tool to design and test the HMI itself. “So you check for the differences between the designs and the implementation, and then you report a lot of bugs on those, and you get this whole cycle while the UI is still being updated and there are new designs coming in.”
“In the old days, the designers specified the UI and the flow of the UI, as well as the graphics components exactly, in a different tool,” said Jami Järviö, CSM and Partner Manager at Siili Auto.
But the developers, he explained, would use a completely different tool to design and test the HMI itself. “So you check for the differences between the designs and the implementation, and then you report a lot of bugs on those, and you get this whole cycle while the UI is still being updated and there are new designs coming in.”
Courtesy of Siili Auto
That means the design cycle would take about five years. But with both the design and development teams working in Unreal Engine, the cycle has been reduced to just three.
“You can use Blueprints to speed up your development from the design all the way to testing,” Järviö said, referencing Unreal Engine’s intuitive visual scripting system. ”The whole pipeline is much more efficient, especially when you’re doing designs on Unreal Engine.”
“You can use Blueprints to speed up your development from the design all the way to testing,” Järviö said, referencing Unreal Engine’s intuitive visual scripting system. ”The whole pipeline is much more efficient, especially when you’re doing designs on Unreal Engine.”
Empowering auto brands to tell their story
Unreal Engine’s entry into the HMI market five years ago marked a sea change for the auto industry. Now, automakers had a blank canvas and powerful creative toolset to really let their imagination loose when it came to dreaming up what an in-car digital experience could be. The result has been an explosion of innovation and creativity across the OEMs we’ve explored in depth here, but also at others including Volvo Cars, Lotus, Smart, and more.
All are using UE to create their own HMIs that tell the story of their brands—and most importantly, knock the socks off of customers.
Unreal Engine x Qualcomm Snapdragon Digital Chassis
Last year, Epic Games and Qualcomm Technologies announced that we’d be expanding our collaboration with a new HMI offering, directly deploying Unreal Engine into Qualcomm Technologies’ comprehensive automotive product portfolio, the Snapdragon® Digital Chassis™, for the first time ever.
Now, automakers who adopt Snapdragon Digital Chassis solutions will have exclusive access to pre-integrated and optimized Unreal Engine features, making it easier, more cost-effective, and more viable for automakers to bring next-generation digital cockpit experiences to their vehicles.
The road ahead
The next step of the Unreal Engine HMI revolution starts at CES 2026.
Join us to see some of the exciting new Unreal Engine HMI developments we’re working on alongside our partner Qualcomm and other innovative brands. Contact us to book an appointment at the show.
If you can’t make it to CES this year, you’ll be able to catch the energy in our 2025 CES recap. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you'd like to connect—we’d love to support your next HMI innovation.