This week’s Automotive Interiors Expo in Novi has just closed – with visitors enjoying more new product launches than ever before.
Over 110 exhibitors presented their latest innovations and manufacturing solutions to help enhance and upgrade existing and future car programs. Headline exhibitors included BASF, Dupont, Grupo Antolin, Juki America, MacDermid Enthone, Recticel and Velcro, to name just a few.
Visitors were able to see, touch and feel a wide range of fabrics, acoustical materials, shape-forming materials and foams, fasteners and adhesive systems, lighting and more. Read all the latest show news, here.
New conference
This year’s show also saw the launch of a brand new conference: The Future of Automotive Interiors featured speakers from organizations such as Renault-Nissan, Continental and Tech Mahindra, who identified and discussed the trends and technologies shaping current and near-future automotive interiors.
Noteworthy speakers included: Joseph Simpson, senior design strategist, Volvo Cars; Bruce Mehler, research scientist, MIT; Dr Vyacheslav Birman, an expert from Continental; Dr Wolfgang Stolzmann, lead engineer and consultant ADAS, CMORE Automotive GmbH; and Dr Rose Ryntz, president/Carbon Advisory Board member, Ryntz & Associates LLC.
Carsten Astheimer, CEO of Astheimer Design, presented a case study of a recent project for which his company designed a concept for an executive autonomous vehicle:. “We spoke to a number of different executives and asked them what they needed from an autonomous vehicle. As with the beginning of the automobile, one of the first commercial applications for AVs will likely be executive travel. Executive will be an area where there’s a premium that allows for a return on investment.”
He outlined his vision for such a vehicle: “It should be like a ‘first-class pod’. We’re taking a lot of references from other areas, so it would be like a first-class seating environment in an aircraft, so when you go from one to the other, you get that seamless driving experience.”
In total, delegates enjoyed presentations from over 40 speakers at the conference, which featured papers dedicated to the study of future interior design, innovative seating, lighting, ergonomics, instrumentation, control systems, new HMI approaches, in-car entertainment and connectivity, onboard wellness and safety challenges, as well as the opportunities and challenges offered by increased vehicle autonomy and ever more sophisticated consumers.
A full review will follow, next week.
