BMW LayerON Concept: Personalized rent car

The BMW LayerON is a design study of a futuristic rental vehicle which can be customized in shape by means of electrically controlled outer panels. It was created by students at The European Institute of Design in Turin, Italy. The three designers are Aydar Nigmatullin(Russia), Patrick De Laet Moreno(Spain) and Rocco Sergio D’Argento (Italy).

Back in August, we wrote an article on a contest sponsored by BMW where students at the European Institute of Design were creating 2015 BMW concepts. The students’ job was to interpret the language, evolution and the trademark essence, in view of the company’s future perspectives.

The project BMW LayerOn was developed in two stages, first they focused on future world and society.

“We noticed that the world ‘goes virtual’ : people buy less and rent more. The post-industrial society is characterized by the vast use of services and, respectively, decreased purchase of goods.”

“We imagined that future generations will go further following this trend. And they would like to have a rental car when they need it rather than to buy one.”

Another trend taken into consideration was the need for personalization, the possibility of customizing your car to meet your needs.

“Everybody want to have a car that reflects one’s personality, a car that is fully customizable. And this was our challenge: to make a car for rent, but still personal.”

The second stage, development, was to incorporate the case study from step one. The LayerON has a bio-inspired skeleton structure on which the covering panels create a sort of outer skin.

The front panels have a sandwich structure: the plastic material outside is combined with an internal layer which is electrically controlled and can can contract and dilate, thus changing the overall shape of the vehicle. Gina Concept was based on a similar principle where instead of a steel or aluminum body parts, high-tech-textile is used that can be formed in multiple ways.

Moreover, the design would allow downloading personal driver settings, for custom exterior appearance, favorite interface of car display, electronic driver’s assistant voice and even driving preferences.

What I love the most about the design is the focus on the driver’s habits, preferences and the desire for personalization, something that current BMWs are missing. Despite the skepticism, I do see these type of concepts making their way into the public market within the next 15-20 years.

And here is a pretty cool video:

[Source: CarBodyDesign ]

10 Responses to “BMW LayerON Concept: Personalized rent car”

bunker says:

December 12, 2008 at 12:55 pm

Ummm…where’s the Z4?

Horatiu B. says:

December 12, 2008 at 1:06 pm

@bunker: What do you mean?

bunker says:

December 12, 2008 at 1:58 pm

@Horatiu B.
I mean, I’m waiting for more Z4 pics, hoping that we’d get an “early Friday treat,” and instead we’ve got pictures of a fantasy car drawn up by somebody other than BMW. It’s cool and all, but…*sigh*

Horatiu B. says:

December 12, 2008 at 2:02 pm

@bunker: Sorry If it makes you feel any better, the marketing materials were released yesterday to certain media and other BMW partners, so we will see a leak before Dec 15.

So, stand by, you know we’ll have them as soon as they are released/leaked

Gragop says:

December 12, 2008 at 2:41 pm

Why do concept cars always suck so bad? These things don’t look like cars, they look like Transformers. “Oh great car Tom!” “Thanks Steve! It’s the new BMW Optimus Prime!”

Interesting concept with the panels but this is a bit far fetched.

Brookside says:

December 12, 2008 at 3:38 pm

This looks like something Mugabe’s death squads would be right at home in.
Where does it say that the future inevitably holds this Mad Maxx vision as reality?
Why, when imagining the days ahead, do most designers create something that looks like it’s from the North African campaign of General Rommel?

Where’s the originality or faith that portrays a life that is hopeful-where maybe society manages to make something that is enjoyable and sustainable?
It’s not that the vehicle is unoriginal- but the vision of the days ahead are too Will Smith/Hollywood/life as Armageddon pessimistic. This is just the same old BS line that life is just (chrome-plated) dirt.
In spite of everything that’s going on, I think the future ain’t gonna suck.

bunker says:

December 12, 2008 at 3:38 pm

@Horatiu B.
Well, that’s good news at least. Won’t be long now. Of course, the 15th is Monday, so we were close anyway. Just hope I don’t hate the car.

Horatiu B. says:

December 13, 2008 at 9:48 am

@Gragop: Cause that’s how I think the future cars will look like. I do believe that in 20-30 yrs, it will be normal to see such designs

Horatiu B. says:

December 13, 2008 at 9:48 am

@bunker: You won’t, trust me on that. You’ve seen the rear, right? The front is just as good.

Artist Project: BMW Lovos Concept says:

September 27, 2009 at 5:37 pm

[...] the past several BMW concepts created by independent artists, some of them sponsored by BMW and the creativity of these designers doesn’t stop amaze [...]