Making Tech Headlines · Page 7
Rivian Imagines Cars Beyond the Familiar Cabin
· New York time
Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe says autonomy could let the company build vehicles dramatically different from its current outdoors-oriented SUVs and trucks. His comments point toward design possibilities, rather than an announcement that those vehicles are already available. The underlying idea is significant: change the driving task, and designers can reconsider assumptions built around the person doing it. Vehicle form has long accommodated a driver looking forward and operating controls. Altering that role could change what designers prioritize. The practical caveat is contained in the word 'could.' A design vision depends on the capabilities that make it workable. A compelling interior concept is not evidence that the autonomy supporting it has arrived. For buyers, this is a glimpse of an executive's thinking about future products, not a reason to measure the driveway for a rolling living room. The present-day vehicle still has present-day responsibilities. The comic temptation is irresistible: after years of making cars feel more like lounges, the industry may eventually ask why the lounge has a steering wheel. Until the technology earns that redesign, however, the furniture should avoid issuing confident statements about where everyone can safely sit.
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