Blind people can’t fully enjoy road trips, mostly because they can’t experience the view outside the car window. Therefore, we thought that if we found a way to make a visual view tactile, we would give blind people the chance to appreciate a landscape in a car trip for the first time.

This is why we developed Feel the View: the first device that through 255 levels of vibrations on the car window translates a visual landscape into one you can experience by touch.

A built-in camera takes a picture of the view that is then converted into a grey scale image. Every shade of grey is translated into a vibration of different intensity on the car window, allowing the blind to visualize the landscape. Moreover, an integrated vocal assistant connected to the car’s audio system, by means of an online AI, will help them put the image into context.

When we initially thought this project, the idea was to create a 3D device that would let blind people touch the actual shape of the landscape running outside the car window. It took us over seven months of tests and trails to reach the results we were looking for. We relied on the expertise of a startup that is specialized in developing technical solutions for visually impaired people. Upon their suggestion, vibrations other than 3D shapes seemed to be the most suitable solution for the kind of approach we were pursuing. The association to the intensity of vibrations and the shades of grey was another topic discussed at length. We finally came up with what we believed was the best solution, and designed the prototype of the device according to the tests feedbacks.

Testing stage was a critical part of the project, as we wanted to put the device to a significant trial by letting visually impaired people try it and give us a totally honest and unbiased feedback. We gathered what we believe were very positive inputs, that, together with the critical feedbacks, helped us optimize the device to a very satisfactory level.

This project is at a prototype level and, especially because of a consistent good feedback, the brand is benefitting from the positive halo that has been raising around it. The connection with the automotive brand is an essential one, as this technology perfectly fits the main brand values – integration, democratic distribution of technology in pursue of progress.

The film of Feel the View was launched on April 30th, 2018, and was very positively received by the public. Albeit only organically, since we deliberately did not use any additional media to push the film initially, the film obtained a sensational scale worldwide.

This project is still at prototype stage, therefore there are no sales objectives or relevant data in this respect.

The film was published on April 30th 2018. In just 48 hours, it was covered by over 250 international media publications, reaching over 45 million earned impressions worldwide. On zero media budget.

The brand perception scored a significant uplift: we only received positive feedbacks on social media and all digital media where the film was posted, praising the brand for the initiative and encouraging us to go further.

We have no long-term outcomes as the project was released less than a week before the date of this document. Yet, the new haptic language developed in this project opens the chance to our brand and other developers to create devices that will help the visually impaired to live a better life.