The Volkswagen Golf R Touch concept vehicle features an infotainment system that incorporates gesture control as the next step in the area of intuitive control.

In the sci-fi adventure, Minority Report, actor Tom Cruise sorts through a series of images that seem to be floating in the air simply by flicking them with his fingers. You may soon be able to do something similar in your car.

Automakers are showing off an array of virtual reality displays at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. That includes Volkswagen, which is giving a glimpse of what it has in mind with a concept car it has dubbed the Golf R Touch. But the name is something of a misnomer because you don’t necessarily have to touch anything to change the volume, adjust the temperature or operate other vehicle functions.

Instead, the concept vehicle is equipped with a stereoscopic camera system that tracks your hand movements, reading your gestures rather than relying on your touch.

The automaker is also showing off a number of other advanced technologies at this year’s CES, including one that would allow the vehicle to park itself without anyone behind the wheel, a cordless inductive electric vehicle charging system, and new connectivity systems designed to seamlessly operate smartphone apps from a car’s infotainment system.

In addition to featuring gesture controls for many operations, the Golf R Touch can also park itself.

“The two inventions of the century, the car and the computer, are gradually coming closer together. We need to design future mobility to be even more intelligent and even more networked,” said Martin Winterkorn, the CEO of Volkswagen AG.

A growing number of vehicles are abandoning traditional gauges and displays, as well as buttons and knobs, for touchscreen displays. A motorist controls virtually all the functions of the Tesla Model S sedan, for example, with a touchscreen the size of one found on a laptop computer.

The Cadillac CUE infotainment system, meanwhile, has a proximity sensor that can tell when the driver is reaching for the touchscreen display atop its instrument panel. It then adds a number of additional icons to the image to let the driver, for one thing, zoom in on a map.

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The Golf R would go a step further. Using that 3D camera system it not only can tell when you are reaching for the central display but also precisely know where your hands and fingers are. And you can set the system to show a virtual shadow of your hand so you know what controls are being operated with a touchless gesture.

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Like the Cadillac system, the Golf R also gives haptic feedback – a little kick – when you actually have to make physical contact with a button on the display.

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The images don’t actually float in space like those in the Minority Report, but that technology may not be all that far away.

Jaguar recently revealed a prototype “Ghost Car” system in which a phantom vehicle appears to be driving in front of you as you stare out your windshield when you have a destination programmed into the navigation system. When it’s time to exit a freeway or change direction, you would simply follow the ghost car as it appeared to be making the turn, rather than having to interpret lines and arrows on the navi display.