The future of auto design has some curves

The North American International Auto Show is all about the visuals: the screens, the exhibits and, of course, the design of the vehicles themselves.

During the auto show, which was open to the public Jan. 17-25, the College for Creative Studies in Detroit maintained an exhibit presence while displaying some models of aerodynamic vehicles that its students made.

On a Jan. 12 press preview day, Paul Snyder, CCS chair of transportation design, was on hand to answer questions and make observations about the future of auto design.






“In terms of strictly surfacing and form and shape trends, I would have to say from my brief walk around today that there is kind of a convergence and a homogenization happening amongst a lot of the brands, definitely in a good direction,” he said.

“But there is a lot of, maybe, too much similarity between one brand to the next.”

Snyder said he was excited to see the vehicles’ “sensual surfacing” and said customers respond to that sculptural form. But he said he’d love to see even more exploration, adding that designers’ understanding of aerodynamics has evolved as they continue to spend time in the wind tunnel. And this is affecting how they design their products, Snyder said.

Source:
http://www.candgnews.com/news/future-auto-design-has-some-curves-80709

In Detroit, Google Makes a Case for Driverless Cars

DETROIT — The automobile industry has spent the last century trying to forge a visceral connection between drivers and their cars. On Wednesday, the head of Google’s driverless-car program came here to declare much of that bond may soon be a thing of the past.

Chris Urmson, director of self-driving cars at Google, acknowledged that a certain percentage of consumers are “really passionate about the driving experience” and take pleasure in muscular performance and steering through curves.

“But a lot of people buy a car because they want to get from one place to another,” he said.

Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/business/in-detroit-google-makes-a-case-for-driverless-cars.html