Google's driverless driving is very hot. Here is the interview record of its designers, hoping to be inspired by everyone.
Fortune magazine recently interviewed YoroJung Ahn, a female driver of Google's driverless car. How did the cross-border consumer product designer create the embarrassing Google driverless car? The following article can give you the answer.
In fact, before joining Google in 2012, An Yongjun was a consumer product designer. The products were different from cars because people didn't have to drive them around.
However, it is this rookie spirit that is not afraid of failure that frees her and her team from the constraints of inherent thinking and boldly creates. In the end, she brought a car that had no steering wheel and pedals and could run on her own with the click of a button.
In the early team discussions, they proposed some exaggerated design concepts, such as designing the unmanned car as a sofa with wheels, but in the end they chose a more restrained design. And it is this introverted (and even stupid) car styling that makes Google unmanned cars revolutionary. This minimalist shape makes it easy to ignore the fact that it is loaded with many high-tech sensors and artificial intelligence software.
In the end, the cute Google car drove 4698 opponents and won the Red Dot Design Award.
In fact, even removing the steering wheel and pedal is the result of the brainstorming of our design team. This is not a hard requirement of the company. When we started the design of the driverless prototype, we tried to jump out of the shackles of traditional vehicles, and it was born to be different.
In fact, I used to design consumer goods. Car design is a new challenge for me. So when we started building prototypes, the first thing we considered was the broad concept of mobility. For example, what is the easiest way to transport passengers from A to B? What is the best design to ensure passenger safety and user experience?
We need to create a reliable and intuitive ride experience that makes it easier for users to accept. However, this idea was still on paper at the time, because people have never tried such a solution, so we don't want to make passengers confused.
It's also very interesting about the unmanned car, that is, it has to meet the requirements of passengers and pedestrians at the same time, rather than the driver-first concept that is used in traditional vehicles. After all, it does not need a driver. However, we also need to consider other drivers on the road.
Just before you said that you are a consumer product designer, has the past experience inspired you?
Our primary goal is the safety of the vehicle, so when we start thinking about vehicle design, the first consideration is “How to build the safest vehicle?†and “How can we make this car better respond to the surrounding environment? Let drones be safer than human driving?"
In addition to safety, I did not try to consider the shape of the vehicle, so the so-called inspiration can not be said. We always try to think about how to best combine the look, security and user experience. The answer is to make it as simple and intuitive as possible.
In addition, here I want to clarify a problem, the current prototype design is just for testing, the shape of the future production car may be different. Since this is Google's first concept car, we strive to be concise, and the development of software at this stage is the real focus.
In order to make this car more concise and easy to approach, what efforts have you made?Since the priority of our team is to ensure that the vehicle is driving safely, its shape must follow this philosophy. The shape of the car is optimized based on software and sensor configurations to make them work better. In addition, we also use a 360-degree panoramic detection system, the detection range can be as large as two football fields. This is why Google's unmanned cars look taller and more compact and give a soft feeling.
In addition, the safety of Google's unmanned vehicles is comprehensive. For example, the front bumper of the car is made of soft foam and the front windshield is also very flexible, so that the safety of pedestrians can be guaranteed in all directions.
In addition, we want to use technology to convey a sense of comfort to people, including passengers and pedestrians. this point is very important. Of course, this is still in the testing stage, and we will find someone to do some experience testing around the car.
This car is too cute from the front, are you specially designed like this?
When we started to conceive the car, the designers imagined it as a futuristic, as cool as a science fiction movie. But when we really started to design, we found that the warm and friendly shape is more futuristic than the one, but it looks like a cold ice effect.
Google Unmanned Cars won't be too fast, so we don't want to give it an exaggerated look. This car seems to be harmless for people and animals, so people's acceptance will be much higher. If we have a super-running shell for a car with a speed of 25 miles per hour, it will definitely confuse passers-by.
In the design process, will you give up some wonderful ideas for the ultimate goal?This is really unavoidable. For example, when the team first brainstormed, we were discussing "What do people do in the car?" Many people answered that they wanted to watch a movie in the car. However, during the test, we found that people were immersed in their mobile phones and tablets immediately after they got on the bus. It seems that no one cares if there is a big screen that can watch movies.
In addition, there are people who come up with ideas for playing games in the car. We found this idea useless because many people just want to rest after getting on the bus. In the end, we abandoned the complicated ideas and designed the car directly.
Why is the prototype car painted white, why not make a red paint? Doesn't that seem to be more likely to attract attention?
We thought about this problem from the beginning, but in fact, the appearance of the vehicle is more pedestrians on the road, and white and gray can create a feeling of safety and warmth. We don't want to use colors like red, green or orange, because from a psychological point of view, these colors can be anxious.
Still a little doubt, so ask you again, have you ever done vehicle design before joining the team?I have never done this before, but I have been in this class at school, but I have never put it into practice.
Have you thought about giving up during the design process?To be honest, I feel that I am quite advantageous because I can come up with many interesting ideas. And because I didn't understand this line before, I was able to think about it from the perspective of an outsider. Many design veterans have their own design styles, so it is really difficult for them to completely abandon their inherent patterns.
There are certainly many designers who think that our car looks different. Of course, some negative evaluations are also inevitable.
This car has just recently won the Red Dot Design Award!In fact, we are also very surprised, this is completely unexpected. However, this award is very meaningful to us because it means that people understand how we are innovating in the design of unmanned vehicles.
We have done a lot of things that no one else can think about. We don't need to design to increase sales. Design is not only about product styling, but also about people's experience, driving safety and other factors. We learned a lot during the entire design process and were able to create something new from scratch.
For designers, this opportunity is indeed precious. Because most of the time designers must design according to the established requirements, rather than fully release their imagination and creation.
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