Industrial designers from around the world will be meeting in London next month to explore the future of transport systems, how to improve the passenger journey from home to destination and how greater integration and connectivity can enhance the transport user experience.
Paul Priestman, designer and co-founding director of international design consultancy Priestmangoode will lead the debate in the Wired Transport: Connected trains, planes and automobiles session at the Product Design + Innovation Conference in London, 15-16 May 2013.
One of the biggest transformations in transportation is the growing importance of infotainment, online connection and additional services. Priestman believes Google’s driverless car project suggests the possibility of a new form of personal transport without personal ownership, saying: “Once we can start to break the personal ownership of vehicles, I think it will allow cities to breathe again.”
“We will see big changes in the way people use cars and powered two wheelers in the years to come,” says conference panellist Hennes Fischer. “ITS technologies and multi-modal mobility will be key issues. This new smart mobility will address environmental impacts and increase safety.”
Joining Priestmann as featured speaker is Anne Asensio, vp of design experience at Dassault Systèmes, who previously worked as executive director of design at the General Motors and was in charge of vehicle design at GM’s Michigan, Los Angeles and UK design studios.
Other panellists helping to explore the future of transport design at the conference include Fabien Grégoire, director, Kenwood Design Corp, JVCKenwood’s in-house design studio in Tokyo; and Victor Szilagyi, UX Strategy & Design at Semiot, a leader in interaction design and has created products and services for the home, pocket and car for the likes of Yahoo!, Samsung and Intel.
Chaired by founding director of Plan, Kevin McCullagh, the Wired transport: Connected trains, planes and automobiles session will run between 09.30 to 11.00 on Thursday 16 May, after which there will be an opportunity for attendees to network with speakers and delegates. Event sponsors include Materialise, Dassault Systemes, Styrolution and Laserlines.
