RCA and bp came together for the Sparkling challenge to explore how design and technology will impact autonomous mobility in the next 5-10 years.
Ride-hailing autonomous fleets - or robotaxis - will need to be charged, cleaned, and maintained regularly at dedicated service hubs. How can we enhance the passenger experience, keep vehicles clean, and have low maintenance costs for fleet operators, while maximising time on the road?
With this brief we looked at three different approaches for making autonomous vehicles cleaner - the prevention of dirt within the vehicle, the perception of cleanliness during the ride, and the re-imagination of the cleaning experience. We asked ourselves: Can we make cleaning more romantic, more playful, more adventurous? Can we make cleaning a memorable and enjoyable experience?
Unfortunately, this project is protected by NDA and not much can be shared here. At its heart, our concept wanted to bring nature to mobility. We took inspiration from nature and ideated in multiple rounds of crazy 8 brainstorming sessions to find our concept. The concept combines features from three main aspects of the user journey that have a great impact on the cleanliness of a vehicle. For us, these were sound, scent and floors. Additionally, we took the service hubs into consideration and worked our concept into a new workflow that would be practical, easy to implement and feasible not only for the customers but also for the staff members at the service hub.
Teamwork with Allison Bajet and Hao Yao.
