A car that thinks with and for you.
This concept study of BMW is about the intelligent interconnection of the driver and the car with its environment. The car becomes a natural integrated part of the networked world and sets new benchmarks for future comfort, infotainment and safety functions. The showcar is to be seen as a sculpture and vision that gives shape to the innovative technologies and futuristic idea of networked driving.
As a material designer, I was thinking about ways to visualize data flow within the ‘object‘. I wanted to create a material that responds and reacts to triggers and shows data movement through light. I interwove smallest LED’s, conductive threads, sensors and monofil to a fabric that soon would function as an interactive dashboard. The co-driver can activate and switch-off the layer of information through a distance sensor integrated in the material. Through different hand gestures information can be transferred to the head-up display of the driver, which was visualized by light points.
.
.
Fabric Interaction
TITV, Greiz + BMW Design.
In collaboration with the Institute for Special Textiles Greiz, the interactive textile was designed, fabricated and programmed to visualize data flow inside the car. Research included the development of mini LED’s and their application on different fibers, weaving and construction of the textile surface, control and programming of the light flow and interaction with the fabric.
Sophie Richter 