The Future of Automotive Personalization
TEAMS Design Trend Story Automotive I
In the past, owning a car was all about purchasing a feeling, a lifestyle, and a preset environment in which one’s own personality was displayed throughout the car’s details. Yet, as the Sharing Economy continues to grow in the automotive industry with car-sharing networks like Car2Go, Zipcar & vRide gaining huge numbers of users worldwide, the necessity of purchasing one’s own car is already decreasing. However, the desire to bring one’s own digital world and preferences into the car as an extension of one’s own self-remains prevalent.
This is becoming easier and easier, as smart actuators, connected signal processors, and customizable lighting and display systems make their ways into more and more vehicles. Soon, we will be able to step into any car-sharing vehicle, and with the swipe of an NFC Card or the tap of an App be able to:
- Automatically adjusts the seats to fit our bodies
- Introduce customized interior lighting themes
- Sync our digital applications directly with the car’s Infotainment systems via Bluetooth & Wireless technologies
- Receive curated digital content & recommendations based on our preferences & social circles
- Pre-setting and auto-adjusting temperature and interior climate controls
- Incorporating digital assistants to handle route options and other digital services while driving
- And so much more…
If you’d like to read more about the trends of personalization inside of vehicles, here’s an article with some good thoughts on the topic: https://whatsnext.nuance.com/connected-living/drivers-want-personalized-connected-car-technology-that-learns-behaviors/
… without having to lift a finger inside of the car itself. As customization improves and grows widespread, attachment to singular car ownership will become more and more obsolete. Instead, cars will become adaptable, fluid environments where personal expression through rapid customization will be as easy as a few taps of an App.
This is part of an ongoing series we at TEAMS Design are producing to discuss future trends we are researching in the automotive industry.
