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Weareconstantlybeingtoldthatthe21stcenturyis goingtobe
allabouthowtechnologywillrevolutionisethewaywetravel,
communicate,dobusinessandliveourlives.
Thisis astrueinthecarindustryasit is inretailormedicine.
Andyet,oneofthebiggestnamesinthebusiness,Hyundai,has
recentlyintroduceda radical,purpose-drivenwayofthinkingabout
technologicalanddigitaladvancement—anewapproachthatwill
affecteverydollarthatthecompanyinvestsinfuturetech.
Progress,Hyundaihasdecided,is nothingunlesshumanity
benefitsfromit.
Thisis perhapsanacknowledgementthatprocessingpower
androboticsarefastapproachingthepointwherepeoplemay
notbeneededatall.Butona morebasiclevel,it is a recognition
thathumans,notthetechnologyitself,shouldbeattheheart
ofeverythingtheKoreanbrandstrivestoachieve.Andthis
approachis supported,Hyundaibelieves,bythreepillarsthatwill
steeritsinnovationinnewdirections:- Freedominmobility
- Connectedmobility
- Clean mobility
Youngcho Chi, Hyundai Motor Group’s President and Chief
Innovation Officer, says, “The concept of mobility stretches beyond
simply moving a person or an object from point A to point B.”
“Freedom in mobility” means giving people the freedom to choose
how they move from place to place. But Hyundai is thinking about
“freedom of mobility” as well: focusing on how being mobile
benefits humans by giving people the freedom to move around and
the permission to dream.
In practical terms, this means that when Hyundai views “freedom
of mobility”, it is looking way beyond a chassis, four wheels and a
combustion engine, electric motor or hydrogen fuel cell. Indeed, the
company is already looking at solutions for “the last mile” of your
journey—that additional distance you have to cover to your final
destination once you have parked, whether because of inaccessibility,
restrictions on vehicles or insufficient parking in city centres.
For this, Hyundai has developed the IONIQ electric scooter,
a lightweight, foldable device that can be stored in the boot of a
vehicle, then used to make the final few minutes of the journey
as easy as possible. This is, in fact, the first physical result of
Hyundai’s new “freedom of mobility” approach to reach the
market, as customers in China will start taking delivery of IONIQ
scooters by the end of 2019.TECHNOLOGY WITH A HUMAN HEART
Hyundai believes that everyone should have “freedom of mobility”.
But for some people, even this most basic concept is compromised
because their physical movement is hampered through injury,
accident or disability. Hyundai wants to give these people the
freedom to move and accomplish their aspirations and dreams.
Driven by a desire to make mobility accessible to everyone,
Hyundai is developing wearable H-MEX exoskeletons. Aimed at
helping paraplegics and elderly people, this robotic medical device
can support up to 40kg of the wearer’s weight and potentially grant
movement to those with spinal injuries or muscle issues.
This human-focused approach to mobility has also been
adopted by CRADLE, Hyundai’s hub for start-up collaboration. Its
offices in Silicon Valley, Tel Aviv, Berlin and Beijing are a hotbed for
innovators specialising in everything from artificial intuition andFreedom in the World of Mobility
Hyundai is changing the way we move for the better