The challenge

As digital technologies have become increasingly inseparable from our everyday routines, the way we interact with digital devices today have grown mundane alerting communities of designers, hardware and software engineers, and material scientists to develop new interactive materials in prospect of embedding more expressive interactions into the future of everyday products and practices which can be configured into multiple form factors. In the future of adaptive mobility, technological advances in shape-change as a computed material has the potential to intuitively transform the way we interact with in-vehicle infotainment systems (IVIS) or machines of increased autonomy, multi modality, connectivity and digitization [5] as well as minimize workload issues within normal driving tasks.

The solution

The aim was to design a haptic actuated object around an autonomous car entertainment system. The project focused on applying this in a near-future car with level three automation (e.g. Audi A8), utilizing the most common functions to control music in the demonstration of our concept as the driver prospectively dedicates most of his time to do non-driving related tasks. To address the aforementioned challenges, a shape-changing interface was developed to explore the way users intuitively interact with the object through an iterative process of form-giving study and material explorations. In this project, a collection of artifacts were generated in the process leading to the final prototype, Kitsune, a shape-changing display on an armrest located at the middle of a sedan car console which is connected to mobile phones’ music platform and tethered via cars’ Wi-Fi. The results of the interaction is aimed at eliciting the feeling of luxury and comfort from the user as Kitsune becomes the drivers’ friendly and reliable companion that attends to his personal mobility needs and preferences.

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