Hyundai: E4U Egg Car & Fluidic Sculpture in Motion

Hyundai has already made it clear that 2013 will be about ‘Brand Awareness’ rather than releasing a new raft of models and chasing ever increasing sales, so two Hyundai outings in the last week can be put down to their targeted aim of profile raising. In Milan, Hyundai are taking part in the Milan Design Week by showing an innovative light sculpture that has been inspired by Hyundai’s ‘Fluidic Design’ (even though Hyundai have already said that ‘Fluidic Design’ is being replaced by ‘Fluidic Precision’ as they aim to make their designs ‘cleaner) with an installation made up of 12,000 translucent spheres acting collectively on a screen, surrounded by high-power lasers and suspended over a pool of water. The ‘performance’ starts with virtual rain created by the lasers which form three-dimensional shapes, followed by an interactive segment where human interaction creates three-dimensional images by scanning for body warmth so visitors can manipulate what they see by using gestures.

BMW X1 – first car in the wild!

The new BMW X1 on the road for the first time The X1 is designed to be a proper, compact SUV, aimed at a younger market, with less to spend, than most of BMW’s current offerings. Based on the 1 series platform, this shot seems to look exactly like the concept car (BMW X1 Concept gallery at the end). Not sure about the brown paint job, though.

Call for stronger penalties for texting drivers

DRIVERS convicted of causing death by dangerous driving should be given stronger and more consistent penalties, according to road safety charity the Institute of Advanced Motorists has said. An IAM analysis of eleven recent prosecutions involving mobile and smartphone use revealed that the average sentence for causing death by dangerous driving is four-and-a-half years in prison and a disqualification from driving for seven years. In all of the cases analysed, the convicted drivers were found to have lost their concentration due to using their mobile phone.