Unified HMI: Decoupling Cockpit Software and Hardware with a Standardized Virtual Display Framework

The automotive industry is shifting from hardware-focused to software-first development. This shift enables continuous updates—especially in cockpit User Interface (UI)/User Experience (UX)X—and requires software portability across vehicle models and generations. Unified HMI supports this transformation for Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs).

Unified HMI is an open and standardized virtual display framework, built upon and extended from VirtIO GPU. It decouples human-machine interface (HMI) applications from specific hardware and coordinates them across different operating systems, displays, and ECUs. The project is open source, currently supporting Linux and AGL (Automotive Grade Linux), with Android support under development.

Unified HMI is built around a software-defined display virtualization framework. Traditionally, developers had to decide manually where each HMI application would run and which display it would use, making systems complex and inflexible. Unified HMI addresses this by providing a standard, open framework for building flexible cockpit UI/UX across multiple displays, regardless of hardware or operating system. It works seamlessly in both physical and cloud environments, simplifying development and ensuring consistency in the user experience. Developers can build and test multi-display UI in the cloud, then deploy it to vehicles using a hardware-agnostic framework. This approach accelerates development and enables personalized, upgradable UI/UX to reach the market faster.

Unified HMI supports SOAFEE’s vision by bridging the gap between cloud-native development and automotive hardware. It enables developers to build and test multi-display UI in the cloud, then deploy seamlessly to vehicles using a virtual display framework that works across different systems. By sharing Unified HMI as a SOAFEE Blueprint, we provide partners with a consistent, practical solution that can be evaluated, replicated, and extended. This contribution fosters open collaboration, standardization, and the adoption of reusable patterns throughout the SOAFEE ecosystem.

 

Key Benefits

• Flexible, unified cockpit UI/UX across multiple displays and systems
• Hardware-independent and easy to update
• Seamless integration between cloud and vehicle
• Faster development and deployment of personalized UI/UX

 

Get Started (Open Source)

Unified HMI is available via GitHub and as a standard component of AGL. You can review the architecture, access the source code, and evaluate it within your SDV projects.

Unified HMI represents a practical step forward in realizing the promise of software-defined vehicles. By providing an open, standardized framework, it helps bridge the gap between cloud-native development and in-vehicle systems. Through collaboration and knowledge sharing within the SOAFEE community, we aim to accelerate innovation and empower the entire ecosystem to deliver new value to drivers and the automotive industry.