FUTURE OF MOBILITY SPRINT
FUTURE OF MOBILITY + AI: A DESIGN CHALLENGE
This Mobility Design Challenge (hosted by Hyundai America Technical Center, City Science Lab, MIT Media Lab, DAAP, and UC Digital Futures) ran across several days in September 2024, culminating in a three-day sprint. In teams, we were tasked with imagining what mobility systems in Cincinnati could look like in 2050. Our deliverables included a presentation, a 1-minute film (above), presentation, and a “window into the future” still. My team of myself, Mario Bermejo, Bozhi (Johnny) Peng, and Danny Smoroske was honored to receive the 2nd place prize!
THE SOCIAL SIDEKICK


DESIGNING A SOLUTION FOR 2050
We realized in this challenge, that we weren’t just designing a vehicle and putting it into the future. We had to think critically of what the world would look like in 2050, and what mobility solutions people will need then. If 2050 is taken over by VR worlds, humans will need to reconnect with one another. We settled on this idea of “mobile third spaces”.
A WINDOW INTO THE FUTURE
Contrasting the general landscape of 2050 depicted in our final video above, where AR and VR take over reality, our “window into the future” shows how our vehicle is a touchpoint for the things that are most human: relationships and connections with others.





THE FUTURE OF ADVERTISING
Our “wild card” submission was a playful timeswitch graphic piece, imagining the year ~2030, when construction alerts for the Social Sidekick are out on the street, but appear as digital holograms rather than physical signs!