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Form is as important as function in luxury cars

In the luxury car market, FORVIA wanted to stay ahead of the curve by adding more functionality while retaining a minimalist aesthetic of its dashboard. 

At the same time, Accenture was exploring how to embed smart materials into everyday objects to enable more seamless, intelligent interactions for smarter products and spaces. Accenture and FORVIA teamed up to create a smarter, more intuitive driver experience in line with the aesthetic expectations of the luxury market.

Co-creating innovative products

Integrating touch interaction seamlessly into a dashboard is challenging. Dashboards have curves that make it difficult to incorporate the technology, and the already compact spaces leave limited room for added electronics. FORVIA worked with Accenture to create a seamless, pressure-sensitive interface for dashboards using smart materials that could fit behind any interior finish. 

The team developed a high-fidelity proof of concept showing pressure-sensitive technology behind a wood veneer. Accenture proved that the solution is scalable by designing a custom application of conductive ink to a circuit using conductive silver nanoparticles. Paired with FORVIA’s micro-perforation technology, this approach yields a functional and seamless interface. 

A new premium interior emerges

Smart materials enabled FORVIA to overcome the limitations of previous touch technology, powering a scalable and seamless solution.

Accenture Labs leveraged its innovation skills and ecosystem partnerships to help FORVIA create a pressure-sensitive dashboard interface behind a wood veneer, which can be used to adjust music volume, climate control and other aspects of the car. Accenture Labs and FORVIA jointly filed a patent on this innovative smart dashboard technology.

FORVIA is already presenting the technology prototype to its clients. This is one of many advancements being developed as part of a five-year collaboration between Accenture and FORVIA to design the future of transportation and accelerate innovation for mobility services.