Imagine: Tomorrow

What will mobility feel like in the future? What will move us tomorrow? What contribution can an automobile manufacturer make to this? The BMW Group is answering these and other questions during a world tour to mark the company’s 100th anniversary.

The assignment

To develop exhibits that convey the core of the future vision of BMW Group’s four brands. Embedded in the concentric room concept designed by Zeichen & Wunder (Munich) for the ICONIC IMPULSES world tour, the exhibits are performers in the brand environments before the premieres, complementing the visionary vehicle when it is showcased on the stage.

The challenge

To present technologies and materials that are not yet available. To described the idea of avisionary vehicle that has not yet had its world premiere. In the brand environments of BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad, the designers’ visions should be presented without revealing the details of the visionary vehicles.

The idea

“Imagine”-Just imagine: inspiring, sculptural, kinetic, medial, interactive exhibits. Accompanied by a narrative soundtrack that fuses vision and sculpture. Choreographed movement and narrative thread stimulate the contemplators’ imagination and visionary powers.

The reality

In the brand environment of BMW, a kinetic sculpture explains to the visitor the developers’ vision: “Imagine your car is not just a car but an intelligent companion…” The shape shifter made of 92 linear drives, a wafer-thin skin made of carbon scales and a complex control system visualises intelligent materials, the extension of the senses and the abilities of the driver, connectivity and emotional dynamism.

The digital light sculpture that represents the essence of the MINI reflects the uniqueness of every visitor with an individual display of colours and synchronised heartbeat. Digital personalisation in an interconnected world becomes dazzlingly visible.

An LED polyhedron in the middle of the sculpture is surrounded by iridescent glass prisms. Sensors and cameras register the visitor and interpret his aura in a multicoloured, pulsating display of light: “Imagine your car is more than your car…what you share is more than mobility. It is the idea of future that grows the more we share it.”

Effortlessly, sublimely, steadily– the imposing Rolls-Royce pendulum swings across the media surface. Detached from time, physics and space, the visitor also sees himself glide through the megacities of the future. “Imagine your time becomes timeless, and peace is the power that moves you effortlessly.” The elegant swing of the pendulum, gentle, as if in slow motion, influences the glowing swarms of particles over which it sways.

BMW Motorrad shows how the driver of the future will overcome and redefine borders. A balancing cube with gyroscopic flywheels is a metaphor for a machine that never abandons its driver and allows him to be free and independent. “Imagine your motorbike is a part of you. You would trust him blindfolded…”. The movable base upon which the cube is balanced can be influenced by gesture commands, the choreography remains calm.

The facts
Areas of application: Munich, Peking, London, Los Angeles
Project duration: 2 years
Construction time: 6 months

Concept and design of exhibits: simple, Cologne
UX: simple, Cologne
UI: Zeichen & Wunder, Munich
Textkonzept: simple, Cologne
Text: Zeichen & Wunder,Munich
Prototyping: Mad Hat, Offenbach
Construction of exhibits: MKT AG, Olching
Media and programming: Focus4, Olching
Overall exhibition concept: Zeichen & Wunder, Munich
Project management: simple, Cologne

Photos München: Oliver Soulas, Munich
Photos Peking: simple, Cologne
Photos London: Martin Müller, Berlin