Jan – July 2019
Tackling mobility safety and UX through natural user interfaces. I interned as a Future Mobility Designer where I had the opportunity to work on BMW’s ambient interface Shy Tech. I led a driver multitouch gestural UI exploration and collaborated with senior designers on projection user interfaces.
Dynamic Interior Light is a projection interface that turns a surface into an augmented and interactive experience unbound from screens. Using a laser and 3D camera, the interface fades from view and becomes visible only as needed.
Patent: Methods, Apparatuses, and Computer Programs for Controlling a User Interface
I worked in the early phases of the project, conceptualizing the applications and natural gestures for the technology.
Beyond media and vehicle surface use, I proposed a projection interface for the hand — a natural touchpoint that is always within reach. Alternate inputs like voice could co-exist to enable multimodal UI.
Project led by Julian Eichhorn
Vehicle touch interfaces lack tactile feedback and can place critical functions far from the driver. Even with larger touch targets, the experience can be harrowing when driving. I wanted to explore how a touch interface could detect user intent regardless of where you tap.
Patent: System and Method for Multi-Touch Gesture Sensing
Inspired by the New Car UI work of Matthaeus Krenn, Multitouch helps drivers interact with common vehicle controls like climate, media, and alerts without having to aim for a UI button.
Ease, feedback, and comfort were critical metrics for each gesture. Building upon my previous project CarOS, I user tested and identified how familiar motions (rotating a knob) and peripheral UI cues (motion, sound, color) can provide safer, confident feedback versus existing mobile gestures.
With the guidance of Iris Koser and Brian Mok
First conceived in 1913, electric scooters are a lightweight alternative to cars. I had a hand in researching future mobility (rideshare, micro, transit) and identifying how BMW could engage in sustainable practices through car alternatives.
As research into micromobility and alternate transit modes, I built and tested a set of interfaces to examine how small displays might provide safe, glanceable user interfaces when under everyday road conditions.
To simulate the screen, I strapped an iPhone to a scooter and went for rides to test graphical visibility and optimize the UI hierarchy to perform under stressful ride conditions such as direct sunlight and bumpy roads.