BMW i and TED crown Next Visionaries winner close to the IAA cars 2017 show.

Frankfurt. The inaugural Next Visionaries ideas
competition jointly held by BMW i and TED is approaching its climax;
the finalists will make their pitches and the winner will be announced
shortly before the start of the IAA Cars 2017 show in Frankfurt am
Main. In an exclusive event on the evening of 10 September in front of
an invited audience of 500 guests, the six best ideas from the more
than 180 submitted will present a visionary image of tomorrow’s world.
The guests will then be treated to a sneak preview of many new BMW
Group products at its IAA stand – a full five days before the show
opens its doors to the public. The after-show party takes place in the
fashionable Frankfurt Gibson Club, with shooting star Martin Solveig
at the turntables. The call for submissions to the Next Visionaries
competition in the areas of technology, the environment and society,
complete with the prospect of joining the legendary ranks of TED
speakers, led to interest from a wide variety of inventive people
around the world. For the Next Visionaries winner, their story will
continue in November with a full-length talk on the legendary TED
stage at a TED salon in New York.

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The Next Visionaries competition is a collaboration between the BMW i
brand, which specialises in the development of sustainable vehicle
concepts and mobility solutions, and the non-profit organisation TED,
which is renowned for seeking out and spreading innovative new ideas.
The cooperation aims to draw attention to promising and groundbreaking
visions in the field of mobility. Its focus is on technology concepts,
product ideas, services and infrastructure solutions capable of making
significant advances in the areas of technology, the environment and
human interaction.

Ideas for the mobility of the future – from the IAA Cars show
in Frankfurt to the TED stage in New York.

This competition has given creative pioneers the chance to share
their innovative approaches, concepts and strategies on an open
platform and, in so doing, initiate the ideas exchange on the linked
social media channels. “The large number of competition contributions
and in-depth discussions sparked within the community show how the
subject of mobility has energised and inspired creative minds around
the world,” says Hildegard Wortmann, Senior Vice President Brand BMW.
Bruno Giussani, TED International Curator and the program’s host,
adds: “TED gives creative minds and their most fascinating ideas a way
to reach curious audiences around the world. The collaboration with
BMW i is about unearthing and highlighting exciting new thinking on
all aspects of the future of mobility.”

A total of more than 180 visions were entered for the Next
Visionaries contest within the timeframe for submission, which was
limited to a few weeks. The most promising contributions were posted
for discussion in edited form at www.nextvisionaries.com. A
selection committee made up of experts from BMW i and TED then chose
six entrants for the final round in Frankfurt. They were assigned
experienced mentors – all TED speakers themselves – who helped them
prepare for their pitches at the IAA Cars 2017.

The venue for the final round of the ideas competition, broadcast in
a live stream, is the BMW Group’s “Vision Loop” at the IAA. The stage
set up in the centre of Hall 11 at the Frankfurt trade fair site – and
ringed by a race track – makes the ideal platform for the live
pitches, two in each category and each lasting three minutes. The
winner can look forward to further in-depth training ahead of their
big moment on the TED stage in New York, where their vision will be
transformed into an idea potentially shared with a worldwide audience.

Six finalists, six visions of our future mobile lifestyle.

The selection of the six finalists in the Next Visionaries contest by
BMW i and TED reveals a wide spectrum of ideas for our future mobile
lifestyle. And their visions advance the cause of environmental,
economic and social sustainability in the field of personal mobility.

Sandra Phillips grew up in Switzerland and now lives in Vancouver,
Canada. Her underlying ideas have been inspired by her professional
experience in the development of car-sharing systems. She sees shared
mobility with electrically powered and autonomous vehicles as having
unrecognised potential – outside of Europe and North America, in
particular. Her vision includes a car-sharing infrastructure which
could complement local public transport in places lacking safe,
reliable and universally affordable mobility. Autonomous rental cars
could ensure a reasonably priced and secure mobility option for women
and children, in particular.

Ira Munn made it into the final round of the Next Visionaries contest
with his concept of an electrically powered three-wheeled micro car.
Originally from Los Angeles but now living in New Zealand, Ira is
focussing on sustainability in various different areas. He has
designed a car – which he has christened “Drop” – to be built from
recyclable plastic in a 3D printing process and launched onto the
market in self-build kit form priced at around 10,000 dollars. Even
novice car constructors should be able to assemble the “Drop” within
20 hours, and a range of over 300 kilometres (186 miles) is claimed.

Self-driving electric vehicles enabling subscription-based
reservation are at the heart of Tom Moloughney’s vision. This American
is looking at ways of fully integrating car-sharing vehicles into the
energy infrastructure. The idea here is to enable vehicles to charge
their batteries (with solar-generated power) inductively via charging
loops in the road surface – and to be capable of feeding power back
into the grid to secure the power supply. They would also be connected
with the internet at all times, so users would be permanently online.

Aarjav Trivedi envisages the future of personal mobility in shared
mobility using autonomous vehicles. Also from the US, Aarjav has
concentrated his attentions on an innovative form of personalisation
made possible by a wide variety of model variants. His idea is that
users can request a vehicle to suit their needs – in other words, one
in which they can sleep, host parties, enjoy a spot of wellness or
watch movies.

Sebastian Gabor, meanwhile, views the vehicle of the future no longer
as a means of transport but as a reliable companion in all situations.
Originally from Romania and currently living in Spain, the IT
specialist wants to see vehicles used as permanently connected
information hubs, which help occupants to plan appointments, provide
them with useful knowledge on their destination and route, and lay on
an aptly chosen music playlist for the time of day and occasion at hand.

Jeremiah Owyang from the USA sees the vehicle of the future securing
its place in society as an intelligent, emission-free and comfortable
means of transport. His vision centres around autonomous electric
vehicles – with spacious interiors and generous equipment levels –
which turn travelling into a completely new experience. Instead of
taking a short flight to a destination and staying overnight in a
hotel, users would be able to work, relax, sleep and have breakfast
during their journey – i.e. they can make convenient and efficient use
of their time on the move.

 

About TED Founded in 1984, the first TED conferences
were held in Monterey, California. In 2006, TED experimented with
putting TED Talk videos online for free – a decision that opened the
doors to a radically new model for sharing ideas: today there are more
than 2,400 TED Talks available for free on TED.com, which are viewed
about a billion times a year. Thanks to the support of thousands of
volunteer translators, there are close to 100,000 published
translations of TED Talks in over 110 languages. TEDx, the licensing
program that allows communities to produce independently organized TED
events, has seen 21,500 events held worldwide.

About BMW i BMW i is a BMW Group brand focusing on visionary vehicle
concepts, connected mobility services and a new understanding of
premium strongly defined by sustainability. BMW i is represented in 54
countries with the BMW i3 electric car for metropolitan areas, BMW i8
plug-in hybrid sports car and plug-in hybrid BMW iPerformance
Automobiles. BMW i opens up new target groups for the company and
serves as an incubator for innovations. Technologies which have
debuted successfully in BMW i cars are carried over to parent brand
BMW’s other models. BMW i is also associated with enterprises
including DriveNow (car sharing in Europe), ReachNow (car sharing in
the US), ChargeNow (easy access to the world’s largest network of
charging points), ParkNow (straightforward location, reservation and
payment of parking spaces), BMW i Ventures (investment in start-up
companies), BMW Energy Services and the Centre of Competence for Urban
Mobility (consultancy for cities).

 

About BMW i BMW i is a BMW Group brand focusing on visionary vehicle
concepts, connected mobility services and a new understanding of
premium strongly defined by sustainability. BMW i is represented in 54
countries with the BMW i3 electric car for metropolitan areas, BMW i8
plug-in hybrid sports car and plug-in hybrid BMW iPerformance
Automobiles. BMW i opens up new target groups for the company and
serves as an incubator for innovations. Technologies which have
debuted successfully in BMW i cars are carried over to parent brand
BMW’s other models. BMW i is also associated with enterprises
including DriveNow (car sharing in Europe), ReachNow (car sharing in
the US), ChargeNow (easy access to the world’s largest network of
charging points), ParkNow (straightforward location, reservation and
payment of parking spaces), BMW i Ventures (investment in start-up
companies), BMW Energy Services and the Centre of Competence for Urban
Mobility (consultancy for cities).