The dark mode and light mode
ArtCenter College of Design
IF: Journal of Interactive + Inclusive Futures
2035 Future Autonomous Car in China’s Urban Area
Amber Li, Duoning Zheng, Jackie Chen, Yihan Luo
Project Introduction
As we think about the future of mobility, autonomous driving is a topic that inevitably comes up. With the success of Tesla, more and more people get to know autonomous driving and believe that full driving automation can come true. The trend of developing autonomous driving can also be witnessed in China. Since 2014, more and more companies in China have started researching and developing autonomous driving. This trending technology is bringing evolution to not only the car industry but also people’s trip experience.
Our team believes that we will achieve Level 5 autonomous driving in 2035. At that time, people would be free from driving and focus on their ride experience. Therefore, our team would like to predict and design/refine a seamless future ride experience to let everyone travel without obstruction and enjoy the trip or commute.
“Our mission is to enable everyone in the city, no matter they are old or with disabilities, to go where they want to go with joy and confidence. ”
"There are only two kinds of people: people with disabilities and people who haven't found them yet."
-------- Chris Downey
Our vision of the future world is one where cities will be more inclusive and where everyone in the city can live a happy and accessible life.
Nowadays, we can still see voices on the Internet that argue that people with disabilities should adapt to the city, rather than having the city adapt to them.
However, they are incorrect and not good for the city. Disability is not something that is far from our lives. Everyone can experience a disability at some point. For example, when we get older, which everyone does, we have cognitive problems and mobility impairments. In addition, many of the useful designs we use every day were originally designed for people with disabilities. For example, telephones were originally designed for people with visual impairments, and captions were designed for people with hearing problems.
In this project, our team wants to push the limits of the design by imagining the future of design for people with disabilities. With the time limits, we mainly focus on its of how healthy people and aging people could interact better with future cars.
行，Xíng system
Xíng means “to travel” and also “to be able to” in Chinese. We use “Xing” to name our system because of not only the direct meaning of this word but also our expectation towards the future mobility that it contains.
Project Background
—— The Urban Areas of China in 2035
The context we chose for our project was the urban areas of China in 2035.
For the time setting, according to our research, level 5 automated driving is most likely to be achieved in 2035. At the same time, this 10-year span will be the best time for people to become familiar with and accept autonomous driving.
For the location, we believe that urban areas in China have the greatest opportunity. In our research, the U.S. and China are the two countries leading the way in autonomous driving. In both countries, the Chinese have more acceptance of autonomous driving and are willing to pay more money for it. The huge potential market in China draws us to explore what we can do to meet this trend. At the same time, urban areas in China have more sophisticated supporting facilities, such as charging stations, and people have a higher level of acceptance of high technology. In conclusion, we made our final decision in China's urban areas.
Research Summary
Future Technology
L5 autonomous driving
Artificial Intelligence
Smart City
Mixed Reality (VR, AR & MR)
Blockchain technology
cloud computing
Metaverse
Transportation + Mobility
Public transportation will be more important since The physical constraints of road capacity simply do not enable autonomous (even with high vehicle utilization).
L5 autonomous driving will come true.
A large sum of people won’t have a private car.
Car-share will be mainstream.
Cultural Trends
The urbanization rate of China's resident population is expected to be around 72% in 2035.
According to the authorities, it is predicted that the elderly population will reach 400 million by 2035, and the number of disabled and semi-disabled elderly people will further increase.
Fashion Trends
Clothes will function as a new interface
wearable devices(smart)
multi-interaction for example the wearable devices connect with the olfactory(MIT Media Lab)
on-face olfactory interface
Fashion will retain its identity as a form of escapism and expression
Living + Housing
smart home with the digital home manager
eco-neighborhoods eg: residencies that provide fleets of self-service vehicles, car-pooling programs. and real-time information about public transportation schedules
Jobs and Employment
Automation is likely to make some jobs redundant: taxi drivers replaced by self-driving Uber cars; receptionists replaced by robots; doctors outclassed by algorithms that can plug into vast medical databases.
Those of us who work probably won’t do so in a traditional office either.
CLA Map
Delphi Report
2035 Future Casting
Best Scenario
The development of the Internet of Things, big data, and blockchain will keep private cars off the roads. Automated car-sharing services will complement public transportation and solve the combined first/last mile problem. With improved algorithms, those cars on the street could be highly utilized. This will reduce traffic congestion in urban areas. At the same time, the car will not just be a means of transportation, but a personal space where all possibilities can be realized.
Normal Scenario
Auto-driving will reduce the number of private cars on the road. Automated car-sharing services, private cars, and public transportation together form a transportation network. This can alleviate traffic congestion in urban areas to some extent delay still does not guarantee a high utilization of transportation. At the same time, cars are more entertaining.
WorstScenario
People can’t accept autonomous driving due to accidents caused by it, and everyone insists on using manual driving. Although the technology is evolving, it is hard to make people believe in autonomous driving again.
2035 Future Persona
Sketches & Ideations
Solution Statement
Xing is a cross-platform system for the future of mobility. It provides seamless navigation and rides experience for all who live in China’s urban area to enable them to go everywhere they want with confidence and joy.
Ecosystem
Future Smart Glasses
Smart Glasses will be an integral part of our future life and our system. Guided by our design strategy, we have reimagined how it interacts with people and added special features to make it more inclusive for all.
A bone conduction headset is a more inclusive form of the sound input. It can serve not only normal people but also people with hearing impairment (but not hearing neurological impairment) to enjoy voice interaction.
Instead of using the bone conduction headset module and microphone module as separate entities, we have integrated them into the smart glasses. Because we believe that the simpler the personal device, the better when on the go.
Smart Glasses Design Guideline
Self-Adaption Interface
1. Light & Dark Mode
The interface will adjust the light or dark theme by the environment. When it is daytime, the system will adjust to the dark mode. When the users are under shadow or the environment is dark, the system will adjust to the light theme.
focusing on the interface / focusing on the environment
2. Change the opacity and blur with the eye focal point
The interface adjusts the contrast, opacity according to the focus and focal point of users’ eyes.
Design system for smart glasses interface
Smart Glasses Features
1. Starting the Navigation
Through the brain-computer interface, users can open Xing with their thoughts. the start page will be the 'starting the navigation' page. Users can use 'Thought to Text' or 'Voice Input' to enter the places they want to go. In addition, the system will generate a 'Guess where you want to go' based on the plans on the user's calendar. The system will sort all of the user's plans based on the time of occurrence, and the user can initiate navigation directly by clicking on specific events.
2. Route Planning
After selecting a location, the system plans different ways of travel for the user and displays their time and cost separately. This design is to help users find the fastest and optimal way to travel in advance to avoid special conditions such as traffic jams.
3. Waiting for the car
The system will match the user with the nearest vehicle nearby. After matching, the user can view the vehicle's driving route, remaining time, and other information. When the user exits xing and uses other software, the vehicle information panel will change to thumbnail mode and hover at the top of the page throughout.
4. Getting on the car
When the car arrives, the system will pop up a notification and highlight the user's car with an illuminated stroke in the user's glasses for better identification. If it is the user's first time using Xing, especially for wheelchair users, the system will play the vehicle introduction and guidance animation in the left panel to facilitate the user's familiarization and enjoyment of Xing's in-vehicle services.
5. Show the surrounding information
By using smart glasses in the journey, users can see specific information of the surrounding stores and directly navigate to the chosen store.
6. Check vehicle driving information
Since the car is automated, the smart glasses show your location on the map and car speed.
Autonomous Car Exterior Features
Ergonomics Door & Slope
The automatic door and the self-lifting slope help people with mobility difficulties to get into the car easily.
Autonomous Car Interior Features
1. Multi-modes Seat
When the user is seated, the touch button on the armrest can be used to adjust the position of the leg to relax and move the chair around. For the elderly, the tiltable chair surface can help them get up from their seat more easily.
2. Inclusive Seat
The inclusive seat design adapts to multiple user groups. For wheelchair users, the seat surface can be hidden and can block and help move the wheelchair around.
5.Adjust the mode
In the journey, the user is able to switch the mode per their needs.
4. TouchScreen Table
The desktop is a touch screen, you can call up the virtual keyboard, virtual drawing board, and other media. The vibration sensor under the desktop can give people a more realistic touch.
5.Adjust the mode
In the journey, the user is able to switch the mode per their needs.
6. Window Selection for the Table
The user can add and switch between different windows.
1. Ting needs to go to her office to have an offline meeting today so she adds this schedule to her calendar.
2. She uses her smart glasses to make plan her route to the office and finds that taking the car is the quickest way.
3. She calls a car with her smart glasses. With the smart glasses, she can always check where the car she called is and navigate to the nearest stop easily.
4. She gets in the car and adjusts the seats to the desk. With the desk, she can work and entertain on the way of the journey.
1. David is really old and has to use a wheelchair to go out. On XING, he calls a car to pick him at the hospital.
2. Because XING has his information when the car is on its way to pick David up, the car lowers the cushion and hides it under the ground so that the back of the seat can hold the wheelchair.
3. When the car arrives, he can just roll him to the gate and let the car pick him with his wheelchair in the car.
4. The seats will lock him and bring him to the right place.