Prototyping
A Car of the Future, Built for Kids
For smart’s 20th anniversary, IOX developed a kids’ car using the technology of the EQ fortwo.
Project / Client
For the 20th anniversary of the car brand smart, IOX developed a car of the future as a vehicle for children as part of the campaign “Big ideas start out small. smart fortomorrow”. The project covered design and innovation.
The Situation
Daimler, now Mercedes-Benz Group, is a global automotive company, and smart is one of its brands. Together with the advertising agency BBDO, the brand commissioned IOX to produce a kids’ car. The car was meant to embody the vision of a fully electric vehicle of the future. The requirements roughly matched those that cars of the future are expected to meet.
The Key Question
How do you build a kids’ car whose design is reminiscent of a Bobby-Car and which technically matches a real vehicle of the future?
What We Built
IOX worked with design thinking and rapid prototyping.
PRODUCT: The design is based on the smart EQ fortwo. Initial drafts were aligned in close contact with the client. This resulted in the body and the chassis, plus headlights and wheels. Finally, the car was painted.
SYSTEM: IOX developed an entertainment board, the motor control and battery and charging electronics. An integrated smart board computer implements several use cases. It enables face recognition and voice control, controls the electric drive and makes autonomous driving possible. An additional function prevents rear-end collisions.
The Result
The result is a kids’ car with the technology of a car of the future: face recognition, voice control, an electric drive and autonomous driving.
Kindergarten children tested the vehicle.
A video for the campaign “Big ideas start out small. smart fortomorrow” was produced from it. It can be seen on YouTube.