BMW DUALITY - Exterior Interactions and how to utilize a future cars shell in a meaningful way. by Maximilian Troicher MFA Transportation Design 2019 in Collaboration with BMW 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements 4 Abstract 6 Introduction 8 Process 10 Research 12 Design Brief 32 Ideation 48 Results 60 Visualisations 62 Modelling 70 Physical Model 72 Conclusion 76 References 78 Appendix 80 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 4 First and foremost, I would like to thank my family believe and trust in me as a designer. for their understanding, that time for them was limited during this intensive project and during I want to thank you, Sebastian Simm for guiding my studies abroad. Thank you for the constant me through my internship and thesis project as support and your deep believe in me and my a mentor. You always had time for me ad always dreams to become a car designer. guided me in the right direction. Thank you, Demian Horst, for your dedication to The whole team at BMW was always open to this position. Your efforts throughout the years give feedback whenever I needed any kind of in Umea are unprecedented. Your advice and guidance, being in design modelling or in the questioning was always so helpful to me when workshop and I want to thank you as well for your being lost in projects. time and efforts! Let me express a special thanks to you, Anja. Thank you, Jonas Sandström, for constantly You motivated me throughout the past 6 years reviewing my work and giving experienced since we met in our first year of Bachelors in feedback also in your free time. It was awesome Graz. I know now that without you I would’ve not to have you as a teacher throughout those years. reached my goals and I will never forget your love and support. BMW and especially Krzysztof Szews handed me the opportunity for an internship and a following THANK YOU! degree project in collaboration with BMW. It was a dream for years and I really enjoyed it to be part of the team! I want to thank you for your early 5 ABSTRACT 6 New opportunities open up in a future, where The degree project process started with a general senses but can also communicate in a direct way autonomy is daily business, car lighting loses research phase analyzing our future world with to individual users simultaneously. its main purpose and engine sounds are gone focus on technologies that work together with completely. human senses. After the concept was set, the The car will bring users or potential customers design process started with thumbnail doodling one a journey towards the car already without BMW Duality is a Concept that focuses on and rough ideation sketches. Selected themes even entering. interactions with the exterior of future vehicles. then got further detailed with digital 2D tools These interactions use multiple human senses or modelled as rough 3D volumes. The CAS- to create a unique exterior experience that modelling phase was structured by constant changes the sensual perception of vehicles VR review sessions to get a real feeling for the when approaching them. The cars physical volume in space. This simulated a real-world shape is inspired by the simplicity of 80s and process, where multiple models are built in full 90s design to offer a clean canvas for the layer scale. To finalize the project and tell the complete of rich digital impressions which will be added story, a physical model and a virtual animation on top of it. Sound design, haptic feedback and was created. visual feedback in combination with a modern appearance create a totally new way how BMW The outcome of the project is a compact could set itself apart in a future where every autonomous EV, using multiple ways of brand will offer its own shared mobility service. communicating with its surrounding. Light, sound These exterior interactions are not just beneficial and haptic feedback are combined in countless for the brand but will enhance the daily life of situations to create unique experiences on users as well as the society around it. the vehicle’s exterior. The car can express its character by peripheral feedback through multiple 7 INTRODUCTION 8 RELEVANCE When cars become driverless, major changes needs but the opportunity that opens with it. into new fields of technology to bring back just in their design will happen. When thinking of Vehicles are around us most of the time when a fraction of that to a feasible state. I hope to exterior interactions on vehicles nowadays, they being in urban areas and these vehicles can then inspire some experienced designers to think in are always serving very defined purposes. Lights be used as a canvas to express much more than new directions about how to approach exterior ensure a driver’s sight, honking the horn alerts just rational functionality. Laws today prevent cars design. pedestrians around the vehicle and touching the to have unidentified light or sound expressions car almost always is for opening doors or the due to safety reasons but in a not so distant trunk. future also these will change. A future where drivers become passengers, they Its is important to look for potential technologies won’t need perfect vision of the street. Or the that could change a future exterior car experience. honk of a horn will become irrelevant as a driver This project focuses on exploring some of these to driver communication due to perfect sensing technologies and aims to influence future real- technologies. The key is not the absence of these world projects. It is always needed to push heavily PERSONAL BACKGROUND Gaming has been a long-lasting personal as it can be when sharing it with fellow men. The third part to complete a truly magic passion, and I think, gamers love immersive Completing a task together, showing an enemy experience is presence. An experience should experiences which let you forget the world that you have superior skills, or making up genius be so seamless, that you will never ever get around you. What makes these experiences so strategies to succeed are things that keep people interrupted by bad UI, misunderstood actions or magic for users are three main components. doing team sports, playing games or persecute advertisement. The author thinks that the goal big ideas. is ultimately to remove any unnecessary tech or Extraordinary content is one main ingredient for gadgets from holistic experiences which could a valuable experience. Without good content, Knowing that other people appreciate or pull the user back to reality. In a truly immersive the best user-interface, the most dramatically recognize actions we take is somehow very experience, your body should feel like being filmed Netflix scene, or the most detailed virtual satisfying for humans but in recent applications, part of something bigger. To go even further it world will not survive in our selective society. like social media, these elements are reduced to could be said that some experience can become An example for this statement is the Disney Star a level, at which the direct human interaction gets almost subconscious. Humans adapt quite Wars trilogy. Great visual effects and good actors lost almost completely (e.g. remote likes, emoji quickly to common actions they do daily. If a with poor content made resulted in generally reactions, tweets as responses). But the trendy, person has worn a watch for a long time, he/she disliked movies. Even with the intended content with stories on Instagram/Facebook or voice will automatically turn their wrist when feeling is great, many busineses fail when great ideas messages tends to go back to a level where usual the need of knowing the time. When hearing a are badly executed, which tells the story of great human senses like audible or visual expressions vibration on the tv, many people immediately experiences. It should always be holistic package get more and more important again. Virtual touch their laps, to check if their phone might that catches a human’s mind and augmented reality tech could bring these have a notification popping up. elements back and combine them with a digital A shared experience is the second most future to even enhance human communication to Creating subconscious ways of communication important topic on this list. When experiencing new levels. could simplify daily lives when being bombarded something alone, it is generally not as enjoyable with visual inputs all around. 9 PROCESS 10 11 RESERCH BMW HISTORY Design icons BMW has one of the clearest design icons of all automobile manufacturers. A BMW face is easily recognizable without a brand logo on display. The face consisting of the kidneys (split grille, since 1935) and the twin headlamps that characterize it and result in a strong focused “look” of the car. 01 02 03 BMW Isetta 1955 A long wheelbase, long sweeping bonnet and set- back passenger compartment create and define the dynamic proportions of previous and current BMW models. Driver focused design defined BMW’s interiors ever since. With “Sheer Driving Pleasure” as the brand’s catchphrase, this totally made sense so far, but has 04 05 06 to be explored in the future changes to the car as BMW Turbo X1 Concept 1972 a means of tr ansportation. (BMW Design Icons, 2012) Creating icons BMW is known for exploring the unknown. Creating polarizing and iconic cars that greatly influence the brands future was always the 07 08 09 company’s habit. BMW Vision Efficient Dynamics BMW Vision Efiicient Dynamics Concept 2009 for example, paved the way for the 2013 released BMW i8 which is still the visually most futuristic vehicle on today’s roads.