VW PRE – There before anything happens!
a strategic design project
Volkswagen and Comlogo approached our university with an interesting task:
How might smart clothing applications for the mobile society meet the needs of a sustainable future?
From the start, this was challenging. As technology and fabric have very different life cycle lengths, it is extremely difficult to combine them and still ensure a long-lasting product that can be produced, used and discarded sustainably. But sustainability is not only an environmental and ecological factor, but also a social one. Therefore, I decided to focus on the health sector in order to find a solution that would actually help people.
My whole personal life, I have been in close contact with people with disabilities – giving me a deep understanding of their strengths and needs that are highly individual. With this project, I saw an opportunity to create an innovation that increases autonomy for people with disabilities or other physical restrictions to be able to partake in society as much as possible. And to do so safely and autonomously.
Luckily, this also aligned with Volkswagen’s beliefs and vision. Inclusion by democratizing mobility and increasing accessibility are part of their mission.
So I developed the sub-brand PRE for them, including two different products, focusing on two quite common issues of people with disabilities.
PRESERVE is for people with a severe lack of balance (that can be caused by many different things). The goal is for them to be able to move around freely and safely. To ensure that, I designed a jacket with strategic airbag placements, that is able to detect and attenuate falls.
I worked with physiotherapists, caretakers, a provider of work for people with disabilities and a triathlete to figure out the most efficient airbag placements. The goal was not only to protect the most vulnerable parts of the body, but to also not cause more balance issues. This is prevented with the jacket’s carefully thought-through weight distribution.
The airbags are placed discretely, the design is stylish and easy to use – even with physical restraints.
PRECEDE is for people with a restrictive lack of orientation. I designed orientation and navigation devices with an emergency function, which come with an app that connects all relevant caretakers.
The devices are placed on the two sleeves of a person’s favorite sweater or jacket. They both have a home and a SOS button. Using the integrated speaker and the light and vibration indicators, the devices can either guide the person home safely or contact their personal caretakers when there is an emergency and the person needs to be picked up.
The safety of the people in need of PRECEDE is of utmost importance. They are only trackable once they activate and confirm the emergency mode. Anything else would be limiting their right to privacy and would be not only highly uncomfortable for them, but also illegal.
The app is not only designed to navigate those emergency situations, but also to centralize general care processes. Caretakers have a shared to-do-list and schedule as well as access to all relevant medical information and contacts.
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