Hankook Tire Launches ‘2018 Design Innovation’ Project

• - The company launches its innovative project that challenges ideas of future driving life, in association with the prestigious UK’s Royal College of Art

January 9, 2018 (Seoul, Korea) – Hankook Tire has announced the launch of its ‘2018 Design Innovation’ project. The Design Innovation is a project held every two years that realizes the infinite possibilities of a tire through designing creative and realistic alternatives to driving.

‘2018 Design Innovation’will be held under the theme of‘Extending Future Life Beyond Mobility’. In 2035, human life is expected to be more connected to systems with technological advances such as artificial intelligence and robotics. Future mobility in this era will likely not be limited to transporting a person to a different location, but will also span to providing new experiences and values to the traditional mobility environment. As such, the participants of the project will be asked to create a new tire concept using autonomous driving technology, proposing a whole new experience to future driving life.

In association with the prestigious UK’s Royal College of Art, over 10 students majoring in vehicle design will participate in the project. The participants will be required to present a 3D modeling of a future tire, including tire, wheel, and the exterior design. The project will start in January, ongoing to March. Some selected entries will be created into animations and actual size mock-ups and will be displayed in September along with an award ceremony.

Hankook Tire constantly suggest innovative vision of future driving through the Design Innovation project since 2012. The latest Design Innovation project was held in 2016 with University of Cincinnati on ‘Connect to the Connected World', proposing smart mobility for the future mega city. The 2014 project was held in association with University of Design, Engineering and Business in Pforzheim, Germany on ‘A Great Challenge for a Great Change’. The project shed light on what key roles tires can play in the era of climate change. The first project began in 2012 with University of Cincinnati on ‘The way to the future'.