Lear: Automotive Seat Technology of the Future

This evolved presentation would be a digital representation of a vehicle that could be manipulated in such a way that we could conduct an “x-ray” to expose the internal controllers, wiring architecture and seats that Lear supplies to automakers. We envisioned this to be a large “projected hologram” with interactive capability. The animations within the presentation would morph from the internal architecture of wiring components that Lear supplies. We built this experience to be fully adaptable and customizable for a future vision of the vehicle, and for Lear products as they evolve.

The first step in our collaboration was becoming immersed with the Lear brand. We started by touring the Lear showroom, followed by establishing workshop sessions with the team. The showroom offered our team an expansive look at the innovative seats and design work that Lear was producing.

Following our showroom tour, we moved into our workshop sessions, where we brainstormed ideas on how the experience could interact with the participant. We worked closely with Lear’s executive team to explore the spectrum of ideas, story beats and features that the experience would convey. As part of these sessions, our team explored three pillars of possibilities for the vehicle:

With our workshop findings, we constructed several concepts that would both align with Lear’s branding while also showcasing the detailed workings of the vehicle. Each concept allowed for the final animations to be visually dynamic and interactive, while also drawing inspiration from the "expanded view" seat from the Lear showroom.

Utilizing a modular design, this concept imitated the building block nature of Legos. A modular exoskeleton would demonstrate the intricate spine work and flexibility of the seat.

As we centered in on the favored concepts, we shifted to considering alternative aspects of Lear to weave into the final presentation and hologram. Since this presentation would be a statement on the vehicle and Lear’s products, we examined Lear’s visual brand language across all platforms to connect the quality of Lear with the consumer.

Our final design takes on a modular appearance. The seat begins fully assembled. The seat then “breaks apart” in an exploded view to show all of the seat’s components and foamless materials, allowing the viewer to dissect each element of the seat. The foamless materials are presented as shapeless, indicating how they can be flexible and accommodating to the user.

The seat components then assemble into a singular seat back module. The foamless materials are shown visibly morphing from their shapelessness into the shape of the neighboring components as they are layered or nested, thus illustrating an inseparable unit. Throughout the animation, we depicted how these foamless materials allow for flexing under pressure which provides added comfort to the user. The critical element in the animations is demonstrating the inner workings of how the seat operates.

In addition to the animation, our team created a user journey with detailed points of interactions, as well as a visual exploration of the look of the experience. We then built the technology to connect the displays to the application and the controlling device. This device would be the command center allowing visual exploration of the animated story beats.

Our team is proud to have helped Lear showcase the innovative nature of their product through a futuristic and interactive presentation. Being part of a seat that is pioneering accessibility and elevating the experience of driving and ride-share for all users was a great exploration for our team to craft solutions for.