Hyundai teams up with students to research nature-inspired mobility solutions
It appears that Hyundai Motor Group truly believes in the adage, “the children are the future,” because it is currently entrusting students at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) to realize the company’s potential future mobility solutions.
The RISD study is meant to expand the smart mobility vision unveiled by the South Korean carmaker at the CES 2020 event held in January this year, dubbed the Urban Air Mobility, Purpose Built Vehicle and Hub, or UAM-PBV-Hub.
Hyundai’s vision, which aims to help vitalize human-centered future cities, focuses on three mobility solutions: Urban Air Mobility (UAM), Purpose Built Vehicle (PBV) and Hub.
UAM combines Personal Air Vehicle (PAV) and urban air mobility services to make airspace available for transportation, effectively connecting the sky and the ground. Hyundai considers UAM as “a key future innovation business that can help overcome urban challenges like traffic congestion and transform the paradigm of mobility.”
PBV on the other hand, is a ground-based eco-friendly mobility solution that provides customized spaces and services for passengers in transit, thereby linking people to people on the road. In addition to being an urban shuttle, PBVs can function as rest and recreation facilities including a restaurant, coffee shop, hotel, or even a clinic and pharmacy.
The joint research with RISD will use insights from RISD’s pioneering faculty and students and harness their creativity to conceive the brand’s future realities.
For the study, Hyundai and RISD created four teams comprising four students and one faculty member. Each team will be responsible for one of four key research areas:
- Graphic Design – Posthuman Mobility: From Molecule to Machine
- Industrial Design – From Anthropocene to Aerocene through Biocene
- Sound Design for Mobility
- Textile Design for Mobility
The teams, which began its research in February, will continue their work in the following months, starting with a six-week research program focused on lightweight structures and hygiene.
“Hyundai Motor Group’s work with RISD is providing deep insights that will help us advance innovations in technology and design, paving the way for next-generation mobility solutions,” said Youngcho Chi, Hyundai Motor Group’s President and Chief Innovation Officer . “Through the collaboration, we’ve discovered that we have a similar vision for the future, and we’re able to develop a common language and working methods that will provide a solid foundation for a more fruitful collaboration going forward.”
The partners plan to deepen their collaboration and form a longer-term partnership with RISD’s Nature Lab providing a foundation for living systems research.
Hyundai PH recently launched the Hyundai Owning Made Easy, Ready to Unlock Next normal (HOMERUN) promo to give car shoppers the chance to take home the dynamic ride of their dreams simply and affordably even in today’s ‘new normal’ environment.
Photos from Hyundai
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