It's not everyday you get a chance to see the future well, not 30 years into the future anyway but, at the Roundhouse in London, that's exactly what MINI and BMW are letting you do.
We had a sneak peak; an extensive 'access all areas' introduction to the philosophy behind MINI's vision of the automotive future or, the future of mobility, as they were keen to emphasis.
This wasn't about engines, camshafts, valves, and whatever else goes under the bonnet of a car. This was, to some extent, about the aesthetics of a visionary car; but, mostly, it was about what a car of the future can do for you.
MINI have clearly thought long and hard about what people will need from a car tomorrow and what we’d love from a car today. They weren’t trying to impress us with some new stereo or a fancy colour scheme (in fact, the colour scheme of the car will match you; chosen for each individual by the car itself - honestly!).
Nope, they're looking to impress with a car that seamlessly integrates into your life and becomes uniquely personal to you, while conversely also being shared by the wider community.
As a piece of design, this car looks the part. Long sweeping rear lights, wrapped around that short recognisable body of a MINI, which seems to be a featureless screen of perfectly merged metal and glass. No door handles, the car opens when you tap your foot on the floor and displays your own, personal motif on the door, once you get in.
Inside, the car is open to the world outside, almost from top-to-bottom, with a minimalist dashboard of brass, mesh, a couple of numbers indicating speed and direction, and a round device that is, literally, designed to inspire you.
And, the emphasis there is on 'you'. The MINI of the future will be personal to you, knowing your diary, your driving position, your preferred routes, while tapping into the wider MINI community to learn road conditions, traffic, and even ideas for where you might like to go.
But, at the same time, all this dynamic personalisation means that your MINI can be everyone's MINI, with the car adapting and adjusting to any MINI driver who uses it. That means, in the future we could all share our cars with each other (well, MINIs anyway), moving from one car to another and finding it perfectly set-up for our requirements.
It’s a strange thought, yet one that you could see working well, especially in the city. With Airbnb, Uber, Santander cycles, DriveNow, and the like, people are used to sharing bikes, workspaces, rooms, apartments, and cars. Now, you’d be sharing a car that arrives as someone else’s, but quickly transforms to become yours, exactly the way you like it.
It’s a neat vision of the future and one that MINI deliver with a shining, sparkling, Minority Reportstyle of a car, that (for those who visited the Roundhouse) seems a lot closer to today than it does to 2030. To find about more about MINI’s Vision Vehicle, visit MINInext100 or @MINIUK for more information. #MINI #NEXT100
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Must have been awesome to see... Love Mini's!
ReplyDeleteAlexander @ Mr Essentialist
Cool design!
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