Volkswagen meets the Metaverse: Co:Design Space 2022
It's all about travel, emotions and immersing oneself in past experiences: Volkswagen design developed a future experience for the Volkswagen brand together with four young students.
Digital collaboration, hybrid projects and intercultural working are nothing new for us at Volkswagen design; nevertheless, the Co:Design Space is a new and exciting challenge every year, which we are happy to tackle with four young talents from all over the world! Motivated by the nature of the project and the opportunity to test their own limits, many young designers from all over the world have applied to join us. The numerous outstanding portfolios, creative skills and the ability to bring visions to life already inspired our designers during the selection process. In the end, we were particularly impressed by Simon Huh from Pforzheim University, Youngsun Kim from Chung-Ang University in Korea, Yongchang Lee from Coventry University in Korea and Advait Taware from the Indian university ISD Rubika. Supported by experienced Volkswagen designers, the four talents should now face this year's task: to lead the Volkswagen brand into the metaverse.
This topic is not only focused on the games industry, but will become important for all product areas.Jozef KabanVolkswagen Design Chief
Metaverse, a current concept, has been moving many different brands for some time, as users can meet, play or even shop as avatars in the digital and interactive environment; however, it is not a parallel world that is simply online. Rather, it is an immersive experience, a convergence between physical reality and virtual space.
I believe that the metaverse is a medium that allows people to expand the radius of life by connecting real and virtual spaces through the development of technology, and to experience their own needs.Youngsun Kim
The Metaverse theme was chosen by Volkswagen design because nowadays many brands buy places in the Metaverse, but sometimes do not yet have a clear idea of what exactly can be done with it, according to Simon Defoort, one of the mentors supervising the project. Therefore, he says, the aim is to work with this young generation of designers to create a vision that has real meaning and will give a boost to the Volkswagen brand experience.
They have pushed us to make our vision more tangible and real.Advait Taware
Busy weeks lay ahead for the participants and their mentors. During this time, Simon, Youngsun, Yongchang and Advait were to push the boundaries of today's mobility to a concept that could be realised in a few decades. In this process, the participants were to question the status quo and think beyond the actual car.
Youngsun's considerations therefore revolved around, among other things, how people in the distant future can remember and relive the emotions of the past. Based on this, the talents developed a new brand experience with the support of their respective mentors as a group, but also in individual discussions. What if, in the future, you could not only live new experiences with your Volkswagen, but also simultaneously capture these memories for later moments? What if Volkswagen Metaverse is the new photo album that you can virtually immerse yourself in together with your friends? The vehicle takes you to different places, your best travel memories are automatically captured by the Volkswagen AI and transformed into an emotional Metavers experience.
This would enable Volkswagen customers in future to enter their vehicle and a VW platform that has the potential to share customer emotions and feelings with others, says India-based Advait. In this way, the Volkswagen Metaverse romanticises travel in a realistic way and opens up new experiences that we have been missing.
The result is completely unexpected; and the idea they bring could make Volkswagen even more human by making our company a 'memories provider'.Simon Defoort
Volkswagen's head of design Jozef Kaban also praised the project as valuable input for the future direction of the Volkswagen brand. Other leading designers at Volkswagen were also impressed by the lively, futuristic and playful presentation. At the hybrid presentation at Volkswagen's headquarters in Wolfsburg, Simon, Youngsun, Yongchan and Advait were able to excellently demonstrate their skills, imagination and ability to think outside the box. The presentation aroused curiosity and a desire to learn more about what the future of Volkswagen could look like. "We will definitely remember this presentation and it will undoubtedly serve as an inspiration for us to shape the transition into the future," says Simon Defoort.
The biggest benefit for me has been meeting so many cool and creative people who have been a pleasure to work with.Simon Huh
The project was a great success for both Volkswagen and the talents and will help to open up new future trends. The Co:Design Space was also initiated to connect young talents around the world with our designers and learn from each other. For Volkswagen and our designers, it is the greatest pleasure to participate in such projects because it opens the mind and stimulates the intellect.
