Frankfurt. The finalists in the Next Visionaries
contest instigated by BMW i and TED yesterday pitched their ideas live
to an invited audience of 500 guests from the creative scene, business
community and media. The jury went on to crown Sandra Phillips as the
competition winner thanks to her vision of car sharing, which pays
particular attention to social and extra-urban factors. “Like all the
other finalists, Sandra Phillips has thought outside the box. Her
concept is already quite advanced and also considers the aspect of
social change,” says Hildegard Wortmann, Senior Vice President Brand
BMW and member of the Next Visionaries jury, providing some background
on the decision.
Nikolas Peter, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Finance,
likewise emphasises the relevance of social aspects when it comes to
shaping the future: “For more than 100 years, the BMW Group stands for
visionary thinking and technological advancement. We always put people
in the center when considering future development. For us, it is
crucial that innovation first and foremost delivers added value for
our customers, employees and society.”
Sandra Phillips grew up in Switzerland and now lives in Vancouver,
Canada. Her underlying ideas have been inspired by her professional
experience in the development of car-sharing systems. She sees shared
mobility with electrically powered and autonomous vehicles as having
as yet unrecognised potential – outside of Europe and North America,
in particular. Her vision includes a car-sharing infrastructure which
could complement local public transport in places lacking safe,
reliable and universally affordable mobility. Autonomous rental cars
could ensure a reasonably priced and secure mobility option for women
and children, in particular.
The winner’s prize – and the next step for Sandra Phillips – is the
green light to prepare for the TED stage in New York, where she will
present her idea in a full-length TED Talk in November.
The venue for the final round of the ideas competition, broadcast in
a live stream, was the BMW Group’s “Vision Loop” at the IAA Cars 2017
show. The stage set up in the centre of Hall 11 at the Frankfurt trade
fair site – and ringed by a race track – made the ideal platform for
the live pitches, each lasting three minutes. The German Association
of the Automotive Industry (VDA), granted special access to the site
for this event, five days before the IAA opens its doors to the
public. This is because the Next Visionaries competition perfectly
complements the VDA’s “New Mobility World” showcase, which opens on
14 September to coincide with the show’s trade days.
Sunday night’s final marked the culmination of the inaugural Next
Visionaries competition organised jointly by BMW i and TED, which saw
180 entrants providing a visionary image of tomorrow’s world. The call
for submissions to the competition in the areas of technology, the
environment and human interaction, complete with the prospect of
joining the legendary ranks of high-profile TED speakers, prompted
worldwide interest from a wide array of creative thinkers.
_____________
The Next Visionaries competition is a collaboration between the BMW i
brand, which specialises in the development of sustainable vehicle
concepts and mobility solutions, and the non-profit organisation TED,
which is renowned for seeking out and spreading innovative new ideas.
The cooperation aims to draw attention to promising and ground
breaking visions in the field of mobility. Its focus is on technology
concepts, product ideas, services and infrastructure solutions capable
of making significant advances in the areas of technology, the
environment and human interaction.
Ideas for the mobility of the future – from the IAA Cars show
in Frankfurt to the TED stage in New York.
The Next Visionaries competition has given creative pioneers the
chance to share their innovative approaches, concepts and strategies
on an open platform and, in so doing, initiate the ideas exchange on
the linked social media channels. “The large number of competition
contributions and in-depth discussions sparked within the community
show how the subject of mobility has energised and inspired creative
minds around the world,” says Hildegard Wortmann. Bruno Giussani, TED
International Curator and programme host, adds that “TED gives
creative thinkers and their most fascinating ideas a way to reach
curious viewers all over the world. The collaboration with BMW i is
intended to provide a mouthpiece and platform for an exciting new way
of thinking about all aspects of future mobility.”
A total of more than 180 visions were entered for the Next
Visionaries contest within the timeframe for submission, which was
limited to a few weeks. The most promising contributions were posted
for discussion in edited form at
www.nextvisionaries.com.
A selection committee made up of experts from BMW i and TED then chose
six entrants for the final round in Frankfurt. They were assigned
experienced mentors – all TED speakers themselves – who helped them
prepare for their pitches in the run-up to the IAA Cars 2017 show.
Six finalists, six visions of our future mobile lifestyle.
The other five finalists in the Next Visionaries contest selected by
BMW i and TED likewise reveal a wide spectrum of ideas for our future
mobile lifestyle. And their visions advance the cause of
environmental, economic and social sustainability in the field of
personal mobility.
Ira Munn made it into the final round with his concept of an
electrically powered three-wheeled micro car. Originally from Los
Angeles but now living in New Zealand, Ira focussed on sustainability
in various different areas. He designed a car – which he christened
“Drop” – to be built from recyclable plastic in a 3D printing process
and launched onto the market in self-build kit form priced at around
10,000 dollars. Even novice car constructors should be able to
assemble the “Drop” within 20 hours, and a range of over
300 kilometres (186 miles) is claimed.
Self-driving electric vehicles enabling subscription-based
reservation lie at the heart of Tom Moloughney’s vision. The American
has looked at ways of fully integrating car-sharing vehicles into the
energy infrastructure. The idea here is to enable vehicles to charge
their batteries (with solar-generated power) inductively via charging
loops in the road surface – and to be capable of feeding power back
into the grid to secure the power supply. They would also be connected
with the internet at all times, so users would be permanently online.
Aarjav Trivedi envisages the future of personal mobility in shared
mobility using autonomous vehicles. Also from the US, Aarjav
concentrated his attentions on an innovative form of personalisation
made possible by a wide variety of model variants. His idea is that
users can request a vehicle to suit their needs – in other words, one
they can sleep, host parties, enjoy a spot of wellness or watch movies in.
Sebastian Gabor, meanwhile, views the vehicle of the future no longer
as a means of transport but as a reliable companion in all situations.
Originally from Romania and currently living in Spain, the IT
specialist wants to see vehicles used as permanently connected
information hubs, which help occupants to plan appointments, provide
them with useful knowledge on their destination and route, and lay on
an aptly chosen music playlist for the time of day and occasion at hand.
Jeremiah Owyang from the USA sees the vehicle of the future securing
its place in society as an intelligent, emission-free and comfortable
means of transport. His vision centres around autonomous electric
vehicles – with spacious interiors and generous equipment levels –
which turn travelling into a completely new experience. Instead of
taking a short flight to a destination and staying overnight in a
hotel, users would be able to work, relax, sleep and have breakfast
during their journey – i.e. they can make convenient and efficient use
of their time on the move.
About TED Founded in 1984, the first TED conferences
were held in Monterey, California. In 2006, TED experimented with
putting TED Talk videos online for free – a decision that opened the
doors to a radically new model for sharing ideas: today there are more
than 2,400 TED Talks available for free on TED.com, which are viewed
about a billion times a year. Thanks to the support of thousands of
volunteer translators, there are close to 100,000 published
translations of TED Talks in over 110 languages. TEDx, the licensing
program that allows communities to produce independently organized TED
events, has seen 21,500 events held worldwide.
About BMW i BMW i is a BMW Group brand focusing on
visionary vehicle concepts, connected mobility services and a new
understanding of premium strongly defined by sustainability. BMW i is
represented in 54 countries with the BMW i3 electric car for
metropolitan areas, BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports car and plug-in
hybrid BMW iPerformance Automobiles. BMW i opens up new target groups
for the company and serves as an incubator for innovations.
Technologies which have debuted successfully in BMW i cars are carried
over to parent brand BMW’s other models. BMW i is also associated with
enterprises including DriveNow (car sharing in Europe), ReachNow (car
sharing in the US), ChargeNow (easy access to the world’s largest
network of charging points), ParkNow (straightforward location,
reservation and payment of parking spaces), BMW i Ventures (investment
in start-up companies), BMW Energy Services and the Centre of
Competence for Urban Mobility (consultancy for cities).