Vision-S – The design story

[_J.G.M_]

Vision-S – often referred to as the Sony car – is our prototype vehicle giving a glimpse into the future of mobility, encompassing the evolution of safety, comfort, entertainment and adaptability.

Unveiled at CES 2020, the world’s biggest tech show, Vision-S made a monumental impact on audiences. Here, we explore how the design team created so much more than a car – they made a concept that connected with people.

Defining ‘mobility’ for the Sony brand

We’d already been exploring what next-generation mobility might look like: better safety, deeper emotional connections, and new relationships with the environment. To make a meaningful impact on the auto industry - and society as a whole - we knew that we needed to shape a future based on reality, not fantasy. So the design-communication team set to work on turning these ideas into tangible feelings and design elements, which in turn could be fed into the vehicle itself.

Take a close look at the Vision-S symbol and you’ll see this in practice. Vision-S is a car that puts people at the centre of everything - it’s a car that embraces them – and the designers embodied this by coming up with a take on the letter S (actually a graphic symbol used in an electrical schematic) that stretches out indefinitely. On the exterior of the vehicle, the ends of the letter S link with the Daytime Running Light (DRL) to form a loop around the car’s circumference, quite literally wrapping the driver and passengers in an embrace.

In terms of honing a colour scheme, the team knew it needed to reflect a future-oriented outlook whilst still capturing the warmth of familiar, everyday life. This is where the warm grey brand colour came into being. Finding the right shade was a delicate process, but eventually the designers arrived at the iconic warm grey that emanates exquisite quality and invites tender touch.

Communicating ‘the real thing’ through asset design

The biggest challenge the design team faced was making the prototype car seem ‘real’ even though most people would never get the chance to physically see Vision-S. The only way to do it was to foreground the reality element in the assets showcasing the car online.

In the concept video, we see the car practically fuse with the central character - a protagonist in pursuit of creativity who tackles challenges fearlessly with conviction - and that positive synergy extends from the individual to the community. This storyline pulls viewers in, enabling them not only to forge an emotional bond, but to resonate long after the video has finished.

Where is Vision-S heading?

A car is more than just a single product. Think of the stunning array of other elements involved, like sensors and other components, or think of what the space can be used for, from listening to music, to watching movies, to consuming a full range of content. Given all that interplay, Sony sees a future full of potential collaboration, which could prove vital in enhancing the value of tomorrow’s mobility.

“When I saw business units, engineers, and designers all getting on the same page and even bringing outside partners into the mix,” designer Jogano recalls, “I could tell that everyone had the same goal - delivering emotional experiences. I could see great potential for human aspirations to pave the way to the future in this collaboration.”

Vision-S is an engine for growth for Sony’s design projects, driving collaboration and fuelling constant expansion into new areas. As design sparks new visions of mobility, we can’t wait to see what’s next on the horizon.

This article has been adapted from a piece on Sony.net. The original can be found here: https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/design/stories/vision-s05/?s_tc=sd_fd037vs05_sctp