Volvo Sense
This project was a 10 weeks project in collaboration with Volvo Cars as well as a collaboration between the MFA Transportation Design and the MFA Interaction Design at Umeå Institute of Design. The aim was to explore what Wellbeing 5.0 will mean for Volvo by 2030.
We found two tensions that we wanted to explore further. The first one was how Volvo is being portrayed in their marketing material (open roads, nature, vacation, simplicity) vs. the reality of most car owners lives (traffic jams, big cities, work, stress, complexity). The second tension was between the concept of Premium (Private, controlled environment, spacious) and something that is Shared (Social, crowded).
Our final result is Volvo sense, a premium shared commute service. A level 5 automated car, electrically driven that fits two people at a time. The core of the in car experience is that the user controls their sensory input to a much higher degree than currently. There are two modes, Energy and Calm. Depending on what mode is chosen the in car setting changes in a subtle way. The color of the light, the scent and subtle audio feedback. To further give some control back to the user and keep it a premium experience, there are social preferences to be chosen when and if sharing the ride with a stranger.
TIMEFRAME 10 weeks
YEAR Spring 2017
TOOLS After effects. Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Audacity
SCHOOL Umeå Institute of design
TEAM
Borut Kerzic (Interaction Design),
Andreas Vang Nielsen(Interior),
Anja Didrichsons (Exterior)
MY ROLE
Key ideation, GUI design, Canvas UI Graphics, Aligning graphic expression to get a holistic style. Animation and micro Interactions of UIs. Movie shooting and editing.
CREDITS
To my team. Volvo Tutors & UID Tutors.
SERVICE CONTEXT
IT ALL STARTS IN THE VOLVO EXPERIENCE CENTER
As there will be no retail store for a non owned car service we envision that there would be a Volvo experience centers around the city. This is a place where visitors can get an inspiring feel for what the Volvo Sense commute is all about. A place to experience the two different modes with all their senses. If the visitor enjoys their visit, they simply sign up to the service and gain access to their personal GUI from where they may order their ride.
Order a ride
IN VEHICLE INTERACTIONS
The Canvas UI
In the hyper connected society of 2030 the commute is a place to disconnect from technology and connect with ourselves and our senses. We wanted the service Volvo Sense to support people to be human beings instead of human doings, a place to do less, not to do more. In order to disconnect from technology, we explored how screens could be excluded from the interior and instead create an UI that could blend entirely with the interior.
The canvas UI is a place to contact the ai powered CUI system in the car or to do simple adjustments, use-case scenarios may be seen in the video below. As we wanted the material itself to provide feedback and feel warm and alive we decided to use stretch fabric. Only when a hand is approaching the fabric will the graphics show up and once done and the hand is removed the graphics fade away and the fabric becomes just another part of the interior. On the image to the left is our Model, built for testing and video shooting. Model building credits to Borut Kerzic.
Exterior & Interior
