AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE SIMULATOR FOR FORD MOTOR COMPANY
REDEFINING THE CAR.
When you no longer need to drive, what is a car? Answering that question gave Ford a new product roadmap, a new design methodology, and hundreds of new patents.
A year of cross-market research into mobility, demographic shifts and evolving user behaviour led to a methodology developed specifically for the challenge: IOD, Inside-Out Design. Where conventional automotive thinking was never conceived for an electric, autonomous future, IOD reframed the problem entirely. Define the space from the customer's need-state outward.
What followed was an interior where every interface appeared only when contextually relevant, woven into the fabric, veneers, windows and seating. Touch, voice, high-resolution projection and spatial audio combined into an environment that felt calm, intelligent and effortless. The technology was extensive. Its presence was invisible, a holistic combination of AI, service design, projected image HMI, transparent contextual display, mechanical invention and tailored touch and voice interaction.
Housed next to the original Model T in the historic Ford Pickett Building, the simulator transformed mobility thinking for hundreds of stakeholders and industry leaders, and continues to inform Ford's autonomous future.
THE CAR INTEGRATES WITH ITS ENVIRONMENT, CONVERSING WITH THE CITY TO REALISE CONNECTIONS.
WHEN YOU NO LONGER NEED TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE, IT BECOMES A NEW SPACE TO BE TRANSFORMED INTO ANY CONFIGURATION TO SUIT NEEDS.
"The Autonomous Vehicle Simulator morphs the current automotive business model into a smartphone-like platform.
Offering radically new interactions, behaviours and services, it enables lucrative opportunities for AI, Apps, Data and Brand partnerships. This will drive revenue back to the car manufacturers in the same way Apple benefits from its iPhone platform.”
IDSA
INDUSTRIAL DESIGNERS SOCIETY OF AMERICA
