Innovation Design Engineering (MA/MSc)
Daan Leenarts
Daan Leenarts is an industrial designer with a focus on mobility and healthcare design. At its core Daan is an explorer, innovator, and a dreamer. Traits he merged well in IDE. Enhanced instinct is his latest project. While exploring the automotive advancements and technologies, Daan realised self-driving vehicles would take a long time to make it to the open road, but the technology we have developed until now could be utilised to make us better drivers. He set out to explore new ways for the car to interact with the driver that would not interfere or distract from the road. Haptic elements have been seen in the past, but the full potential of such devices is yet to be explored. Enhanced instinct sets out to add a new sensorial layer to the driving experience, preventing us from being surprised on the road and allowing us to see further than our eyes can. The exploration and combination of previously separate fields is what defines Daan’s work.
Enhanced instinct is a haptic aid that allows a new way for your car to communicate with you. The haptic circles positioned on the back-rest of your car seat transmit additional information to the driver. Enhance instinct is a driving aid allowing your car to help you drive safer. As our cars are getting smarter and can better perceive traffic around them, they create a lot of invisible information that could be helpful for the driver. I explored new ways for vehicles to share with us what they can see.
