'Phygital' tools drive vehicle development

Louise Davis discovers how an automotive design firm is deploying “phygital” tools that blend physical and digital design elements for a forward-thinking approach to vehicle development

When well-known automotive design expert Lowie Vermeersch opened his own studio in 2011, he adopted a future-focused approach from the off. What the ex-Pininfarina design director perhaps couldn’t have predicted back then was the rapid pace of digital transformation that would occur over the following years and that Vermeersch has since embraced as an enabling solution to set his company’s work apart from other players in the field.

Vermeersch is CEO and Design Director of Granstudio. He explains that his work today involves a focus on two distinct areas: “For some automotive design projects, we act as a turnkey design supplier, taking responsibility for the design process from start to finish. The Lightyear 0 (a long-range solar electric car) and the Drako Dragon (a new type of hypercar) are recent examples of this kind of collaboration,” he says. “In other projects, we collaborate more like a creative partner, working almost as an integrated part of our clients’ team, adding value, capacity and competencies where needed. Our latest collaboration with Lynk&Co is a good example of this integrated way of collaborating. Together, we created a mixed team to work on a conceptual family car.”

FOLLOWER OF FASHION

Working on such a range of different projects means that Granstudio is adept at following the latest trends and helping its clients respond to these. Andrea Berardi, the firm’s Automotive Design Director, says that: “Right now, the automotive industry is undergoing considerable transformations driven by technological advancements, environmental concerns and changing consumer preferences. It follows that the approach to design changes as well.” Berardi says the biggest trends now include electric vehicles, where designers are increasingly focusing on combining aerodynamics with aesthetics to create vehicles with good-looking shapes while improving range and reducing drag. “Sustainability is another substantial matter that is changing not only the conception of vehicles and mobility but also the vehicle design process itself,” Berardi notes. “And connectivity is also a big one. Cars are becoming more like smartphones on wheels. Cars are always connected, always updating and always improving. This means designing interfaces that are intuitive and engaging, ensuring drivers (and passengers) can easily interact with the car’s tech without getting overwhelmed. Life on board and interiors look more like lounges than the driver-centric setups we’re used to.” Berardi also cites autonomous driving as a key trend, along with the growing focus on shared mobility, which is not something automotive designers previously gave much thought to. “Shared mobility is a rising trend that is impacting automotive design. As customers look for more multimodal and on-demand mobility options, designers are focusing on the overall context in which mobility takes place to create the best vehicles that suit both users’ and contextual needs,”
he details.

LET’S GET PHYGITAL

Granstudio applies what it describes as “phygital” tools to address the abovementioned trends. Explaining what this terms means, Lukasz Czekanowski, Chief of Interaction Design, says: “Phygital tools refer to the combination of physical and digital elements, specifically designed to enhance our extended reality (XR) prototyping for vehicle design. These tools enable us to create holistic vehicle experiences by seamlessly integrating physical models with digital simulations.

“In our work, phygital tools play a crucial role in various stages of the design process. They allow our team to interact with vehicle prototypes in a more intuitive and immersive manner.During the design phase, these tools help us refine and iterate on concepts quickly, ensuring that both form and function are optimised.”

Czekanowski also observes that phygital models are invaluable for customer testing, providing potential users with a realistic and interactive experience. “This feedback is essential for making data-driven design decisions and enhancing user satisfaction. Additionally, these models serve as effective presentation tools, offering stakeholders a tangible and engaging way to visualise and understand design proposals,” he states. “By leveraging phygital tools, we can bridge the gap between physical and digital realms, leading to more innovative and user-centred vehicle designs. Our patented invention, DigiPHY, is a mixed-reality seating buck that perfectly exemplifies these capabilities.”

IN THE DESIGN PIPELINE

It’s evident that the team always has one eye on the future, so what’s next for Granstudio? Lowie Vermeersch reveals that he and his colleagues are currently involved in a “wide array of design activities”, ranging from designing exterior and interiors of electric cars, designing a new range of electric buses, developing car HMI systems and ideating innovative urban vehicles. “And we continue developing new features for DigiPHY, which we intensively use in all of these projects,” he adds

DRIVING INNOVATION WITH XR

Over the years, car design has undergone a multitude of changes, with new technologies and materials continually transforming the way cars are created. While traditional tools – such as clay modelling – still retain a place in the car design landscape of today, the emergence of Extended Reality (XR) is assisting in a leaner and more User Experience (UX) driven design process.

XR is an umbrella term for VR, Augmented reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR). While VR is fully immersive, AR is an overlay to the real world, and MR is the combination of these real and virtual worlds. By developing and combining all of these technologies to form a UX-driven design approach, Granstudio is able to create holistic vehicle experiences for designers, from research and concept all the way to ‘Phygital’ interaction models and XR prototyping.

INTELLIGENT INPUT

When asked to assess how AI will impact Granstudio’s work, Andrea Berardi says that, “There’s no doubt that AI is having a considerable impact on companies’ design workflows, potentially enhancing creativity and efficiency in the process.” He explains that through generative AI, designers can produce and explore a range of options based on specific parameters, allowing them to explore more design directions quickly and efficiently. “Additionally, AI offers the opportunity to predict how designs will perform under various conditions, further increasing efficiency. Finally, it is valuable for analysing market trends, consumer preferences and competitive products, enabling a more data-driven approach aligned with market demands,” he observes. “AI can be highly valuable in fostering innovation, increasing efficiency and optimising the design workflow. Some collaborative platforms further facilitate team collaboration, and with machine learning, teams can collaborate effectively
to achieve the highest quality output.”