The COVID-19 crisis has presented new challenges for mobility, with social distancing impacting public transportation, the flow of traffic being affected by more deliveries, and increasing concerns regarding personal health and well-being. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, a transport design graduate from Staffordshire University, in the U.K., has developed a unique solution that could help people \u2013 and particularly those with restricted mobility \u2013 get around safely and securely while also adhering to social distancing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The \u201cmuvone\u201d concept, developed by Marius Lochner, has won the Ford \u201cNew Norm Mobility Award\u201d. This challenged design graduates to develop mobility concepts, ideas and solutions that address the new scenarios presented by COVID-19. As a self-driving taxi for one, the \u201cmuvone\u201d concept puts the priority on secure individual mobility, enabling people to travel where and when they want in comfort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe COVID-19 crisis has greatly influenced our lives, changing the way people and goods move, and creating a \u2018new normal\u2019 for everyone,\u201d said Chris Hamilton, chief designer, Ford of Europe. \u201cThis requires new ideas for apps, features, designs and mobility, at a time when the vehicle is a preferred private space and personal health is more important than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The \u201cmuvone\u201d concept features a minimalist interior with flat surfaces and easy-to-clean materials so the vehicle can be disinfected between journeys. Designed to enable greater social inclusion at a time when disabled people need it most, the ease of accessibility makes \u201cmuvone\u201d highly suitable for senior citizens and people with restricted mobility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The award is part of the \u201cNew Designers Awards\u201d \u2013 the largest design graduate show in the U.K. \u2013 open to students graduating in design. This year, the show was held virtually. For his winning concept, Lochner receives \u00a31,000 (\u20ac1,120), plus a semester of mentoring from Ford of Europe chief designers Ernst Reim and Sonja Vandenberk, who were part of the judging panel along with Hamilton and Amko Leenarts, Ford\u2019s European director of Design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The award was run in partnership with Top Gear Magazine. Charlie Turner, editorial director of Top Gear, was part of the judging panel and gave detailed feedback on all the design proposals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe breadth and creativity shown in the entries for this challenge was deeply impressive and articulated the true depth of next-generation talent coming through the education system. However, it didn\u2019t make picking a winner easy at all,\u201d said Turner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a smart vehicle for a smart world \u2013 one that puts the focus on the privacy and security of the individual \u2013 \u201cmuvone\u201d sits very closely with Ford\u2019s human-centric approach to design. The concept\u2019s welcoming design language, thoughtful branding and suitability for use with current urban infrastructure helped elevate it above the other entries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Runner-up in the award was HALO Project, an idea for an app that helps users make travel choices and choose routes based on personal safety, rather than the fastest or shortest journey. Other entries included concepts for micro-mobility such as electric scooters and ride-on devices, and also for larger vehicles, such as an electric truck, a driverless chauffer vehicle, and a vehicle that could be transformed from a sports car to a truck at the push of a button. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The COVID-19 crisis has presented new challenges for mobility, with social distancing impacting public transportation, the flow of traffic being affected by more deliveries, and increasing concerns regarding personal health and well-being. Now, a transport design graduate from Staffordshire University, in the U.K., has developed a unique solution that could help people \u2013 and particularly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":14879,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"1","_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_pr_autopilot_social_copy":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph_description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph_image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph_image_id":0,"_yoast_wpseo_twitter_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter_description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter_image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter_image_id":0,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":0,"_extra_hide_author_box":"","_extra_featured_post":"","_partner_post_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-automotive","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n