Mercedes-Benz presents the Vision AVTR at the Ces in Las Vegas, a concept car with shapes and content from the future. In designing it, Gorden Wagener, head of Daimler design, was inspired by the film Avatar:”For me, it was above all the very broad outlook for a sustainable future. The world of Avatar is a cosmos full of new shapes and colors, and such inspirations are inherently inspiring for designers. Just think of all the extraordinary environments, life forms and also the culture of the the indigenous inhabitants Na’vi The world of Pandora is closely related to our design philosophy of sensual purity and the bipolarity of our brands of intelligence and emotion. The Na’vi as highly intelligent living beings have developed fascinating, even adventurous forms of transportation”.
The German manufacturer’s designers also focused for a long time on the use of organic materials and functions reminiscent of organisms. Transparent doors, for example, open upwards. As do the flaps at the rear of the vehicle that lighten the showcar’s chassis, making it look light. The interior is designed as a nest to protect the passengers. “The center console symbolizes the Tree of Souls, the holiest place of the Na’vi. It extends dramatically to the A-pillar and creates its roof structure, which gently encloses the passengers in the back seat like a cocoon. The headrest of the rear seat is stretched forward so far that it develops into the headrest of the front seat. Everything is connected to everything”.
The design process of the Vision AVTR differed from the others followed for the most “common” cars, putting the needs of passengers first. The aim was to create a vehicle that would amplify the emotions of the occupants: “We also wanted to create an immersive experiential space where passengers could connect with each other and with their surroundings. For this reason we started from the interior for the first time,” continues Wagener.
The UX designers from Mercedes-Benz shape the relationship between human and machine and vice versa. The focus is on the simplest and most intuitive operation by the user. An important motive is the self-determination of the user and the approach to use the entire interior for information. The goal is to display the right information at the right time – and only as long as it is actually needed. In the Vision AVTR, the Mercedes-Benz UX designers focus on the user experience in a completely new way. Inspired by the fictional world of Pandora from Avatar, the concept car enables a previously unknown symbiosis of human, vehicle and surroundings. The result: a visionary vehicle that expands the senses of the occupants and increases their perceptual ability. As soon as the passengers take their seats in the Vision AVTR, they merge with the vehicle and can virtually feel and perceive the world around them even more consciously.
