THEIA - Autonomous sharing vehicle

Commuters are a major problem for urban transport and for the environ- ment. They have to get to certain city centers at the same time. Individual driving creates congestion, further exacerbated by only one or two people per vehicle. This is why we developed an autonomous electric sharing vehicle that mainly commuters can use to travel to work.

Means of transport to work

This statistic shows the choice of vehicles for commuters in Germany in the year 2022.

When there are more than 80 million motor vehicles produced per year and they weigh in average around 1850 kg, but there are just 1,15 persons in each car it is clear that we need a change.

Moodboard

The aim of the design should be a feel-good atmosphere that creates comfort on the inside with very warm materials and soft shapes. On the outside, the autonomous vehicle must create a feeling of safety so that passengers trust the artificial driving system. We played with the contrast between both worlds.

Ideation

The exterior is symmetrical, because as an autonomous vehicle it no lon- ger needs a one-way direction of travel. In addition, headlights are repla- ced by position lights, as they are no longer needed. The shape should offer a lot of space but not appear bulky, hence the curves of the dome. We also wanted to break free from the conventional design.

Concept

THEIA has roughly the dimensions of a small van. Thus, there is enough space for the eight passengers in the spacious interior. People of average height can stand inside by means of the dome and thus also get out com- fortably. For us the main focus was the interior and the passenger, unlike conventional cars, that are created, starting with the exterior.

Interior

The interior is human centered. The arrangement of the seats allows pass- engers to interact with each other as well as to rest. The seating positions are chosen in such a way that no person looks directly at each other, but it is possible to turn towards the passengers without any problems. The entire interaction should be informal and as pleasant as possible.

Exterior

The exterior should be strong, confidence-inspiring and yet calm. In this way, the exterior consciously distances itself from the trend of fast and animalistic forms of the car industry. The exterior is deliberately designed around the interior, i.e. centered on people. So it‘s an innovative design language for larger vehicles.

This project was developed with Felix Kieffer, Julius Zwach and Marvin Kaspar during my third year at Bauhaus University, Weimar.