Volkswagen Kalmar
Designers:
Anatolii Sizov
Ukraine
Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Fine Arts
Description:
Volkswagen Kalmar – pure inclusive drive.
The 21 century is considered to be the age of breaking boundaries in society. With digitalization, we can get unlimited access to any needs. However, there are some groups of people, that have inevitable boundaries – people with health impairment.
Thanks to 2021 Michelin Design Challenge, we could try to show our vision of solving this problem and finally conquer the mobility divide. Mobility it is not only about moving from point A to point B, it is also about driving experience and emotions that you get during your trip.
Who are the people, or groups of people that your design will help?
The protagonists of this project are people with vision impairment. About 40 million people around the world struggle with this problem.
What are the barriers that they encounter trying to access mobility?
Due to vision impairment people lose up to 80% of the whole information we could get. With this disability people face with difficulties of finding the vehicle, getting into it and they get almost no information from driving experience, they can`t see the change of the architecture or landscapes. The last point causes a huge problems in orientation and moving around the city.
What need or problem does your design address?
Moving around the bustling city is the main challenge for people with vision impairment. Moreover, during the usage of the vehicle those people simply can`t orient without any sound help, so our goal is to give them a new access to surrounding.
What is your vision?
The main goal of this project is to give blind people a chance to see the world in details like any other person and give them a chance to move freely and feel confident. The vision of this project is to combine tactile surface with the ability to 3d-scan the environment and use it in transport, so blind people could see the world throw the tactile surface which is changeable and represents the real-time environment. As a result, those people could navigate in the city through the tactile way and feel more confident.
How, through your design and innovative thinking, have you respected their needs and broken down a barrier or barriers?
With Volkswagen Kalmar people with vision impairment can get absolutely new inclusive access to mobility, break the boundaries and start feeling confident in moving around, navigation will reach a new level, level without mobility divide.
Biography:
Anatolii Sizov – 20 y/o, student of Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Fine Arts, Ukraine.
Studies Product design, 3 year, bachelor degree.