Most designers in the automotive industry have difficulty enough trying to come up with a concept that will appeal to consumers in the near future, say 2 to 5 years, but that does not stop design challenges from happening. This time the LA Auto Show asked eight local design houses to create a vehicle to make life easier in 2057.
The Volkswagen Concept Slipstream won, besides for its 'unique' styling (the other entries tended to be more 'unique' though), because of the integration of highway and city driving and its level of innovation and technology. In the city the vehicle is a teeardrop shaped pod travelling on two wheels, a housed segway, which tilts horizontally when driving on the freeway to enhance aerodynamics.
"Thinking 50 years in the future using autonomous driving and artificial intelligence was challenging for our design team," said Derek Jenkins, Chief of Volkswagen Design.
Main purpose of the LA Design Challenge is not merely to design unattainable or plain silly concepts but mainly to pit the LA based design houses against each other on a yearly basis. Last year the Hummer 02 won and in 2005 the GMC PAD took home the glory and trophy.
Today, Volkswagen Slipstream design sketch was announced as the winner of the Los Angeles Auto Show's 2007 Design Challenge. This year's theme, RoboCar of 2057, asked eight automotive design studios to form their vision of the future by depicting a vehicle that incorporates artificial intelligence engineered to make life easier and more attractive to consumers 50 years from now.
The Volkswagen Slipstream was chosen for how well it integrated into personal and work life, the level of innovation and technology as well as its unique styling. The Slipstream adapts for city and freeway driving. These two-wheeled, teardrop shaped pods travel in an upright orientation that occupies one-fifth the size of a traditional vehicle and when on the freeway, tilts horizontally to be more aerodynamic.
"Thinking 50 years in the future using autonomous driving and artificial intelligence was challenging for our design team," said Derek Jenkins, Chief of Volkswagen Design. "We truly enjoyed participating in the Design Challenge and winning is a definite plus."
Entries were judged by multi-discipline design professionals who selected the winner based on its originality of creative concept, integration of robotics and level of adaptation to a variety of environmental conditions and consumer needs.
"The scope of the entries was very impressive and in the end it came down to which team had the most innovative and fun design that could be best applied to a daily lifestyle," said Chuck Pelly, director of Design Los Angeles and partner in The Design Academy, Inc. "Volkswagen's designers showed passion and ultimately created a brighter vision of 2057."
Designers entered two-dimensional renderings and concept descriptions predicting how the rapidly advancing field of artificial intelligence will integrate into the automobile to make life safer, more practical and attractive. In the past, participating studios have received impressive amounts of worldwide exposure among peers and media.
The purpose of the Design Challenge is to pit the auto manufacturers' Los Angeles-based design studios against one another. Designers enjoy participating in the challenge because it is a strong venue to showcase their talents and further explore new ideas in automotive design.
Harajoshi
November 16, 2007 6:30:01 PM
In future we won't drive, we will be all slaves of the chinese!
I cannot believe how retarded GMs submission was....A mobile home entertainment that goes under ur car. I guess they're not making money on cars so they gotta venture into electronics. Better keep them design chimps busy cuz they're not gonna get anywhere with these kinds of ideas.
In future we won't drive, we will be all slaves of the chinese!