Hyundai senses the future with House of Hyundai
Hyundai’s event looks at how a car might interact with your senses to improve the experience of motoring in the future
Behind a glass shopfront in a thriving and trendy street in Soho, London, nestled between bustling restaurants, bars and expensive hair salons, Hyundai unveiled its vision of the future.
And not in the usual way, either. There was a distinct lack of clay model model cars and artist’s impressions of hovertastic gravity-defying visions with slogans like "where we're going, we don't need roads.”
Instead, the Korean giant, now fifth largest car maker in the world, concentrated on a humanistic angle. From the street, House of Hyundai looked more like an art gallery than a car showroom.
As living-beings, we have five very important ways to experience life, our senses - touch, sound, smell, sight, and taste.
The House of Hyundai tests and stimulates these senses and inturn demonstrates how the firm is looking at how it might be applied to the future of mobility.
Hyundai's vision is that you, yes you, the squggie irrational and unpredictable bag of bones behind the wheel, will inform your car how to behave.
For example, get into your future Hyundai in a 'why is Brexit still going on?’ or 'will Arsene Wenger ever retire?’, type of bad mood (depending on your political and sporting allegiances) and its built-in technology will detect your ‘less than positive’ start to the day.
Once your mood has been evaluated, the car will then work to improve it by the time you get to work. So, music can be played that will calm you down and cheer you up, aromas can be released that remind you of happier times and perhaps the car will recommend a more fun route to the office.
Perhaps a stop en-route is in order, somewhere with a soothing or inspiration view where you can make a pick-me up breakfast.
Ok, well let's break all that down.
Touch - Kicking us off is Borre Akkersdijk of ByBorre who is aligning fabrics and technology. He is looking to build-in connectivity and functionality to materials, whether clothes or car seats - proper Marty McFly stuff.
Sound - Who knows what music will calm you down or put you in a better mood? Spotify does, using data gathered from millions of users, it can compile playlists of what people listen to when after soothing music, or for the best road trip soundtrack.
Smell - Take a deep breath and relax. That's the domain of Sarah McCartney of 4160tuesdays.com. She specialises in creating bespoke fragrances inspired by people, places, emotions, memory and moments and can create aromas that are unique to you.
Sight - Blackbee Films presented the top 10 driving routes in the UK accompanied by a drone footage film of the No. 1 route - The Roof of England, Penrith to Hayden Bridge on the A686.
Taste - Stopping for that pick-me-up breakfast is brought to you courtesy of 3-D food printing. Candy Mechanics demonstrated how far this technology has already come by taking a headshot photo of a willing guest at the event. The image was then converted by computer into an electronic 3-D image. This information was then downloaded to a 3-D printer which then chiseled a block of chocolate into the shape of the House of Hyundai guest’s head. Hyundai thinks this is just the start and you'll be able to 'print' whatever picnic you want.
These technologies really provoke your sense of intrigue and excitement for the what the future holds and how technology can improve your mood and well-being.
The House of Hyundai event is being held on Saturday 5th November at 147 Wardour Street, London It's free to pop in and is well worth a look, taste, feel, listen and sniff. For tickets click here.
