The Renault team was highlighted in a recent article by the Fung Institute of Engineering Leadership.

Celebrating social innovation at annual Capstone Showcase: the Renault Human Centered Design team had quite an interactive prototype to showcase: a car seat “chair” with a haptic array built into the armrest. The team, comprised of Stephanie Cantu, Satish Kanagaraj, and Etienne Marecal, aimed to design an immersive, multi-sensory experience for autonomous vehicles. The haptic array within the armrest produces different patterns of motion, which can simulate various “environments,” like a gentle rocking to make you feel as if you’re at sea. The technology for self-driving cars is here — but the Renault team asks, how do we spend our newfound time behind the wheel, if not driving? Haptic arrays located through out the car’s infrastructure could provide an entirely new and relaxing user experience while riding to work”.

Featured image caption: The Renault Human Centered Design team, photographed with Capstone advisors Alice Agogino, Euiyoung Kim, and Nikhil Gowda, and their prototype: A haptic array embedded into a car seat armrest.