Rinspeed Senso: A Bizarre Car

By The News Editor

"The driver and not the technology should be the focal point of a car," observes the 49-year-old head of Rinspeed, Frank M. Rinderknecht, summing up the fundamental idea behind his latest concept car that looks like its fresh off the set of a Star Wars movie, the "Senso".

Due to be presented jointly by the famous Swiss automotive design and solutions specialist, Rinspeed, and Bayer MaterialScience, one of the world's largest plastics producers, the innovative "Senso" was developed in cooperation with the experienced engineering specialist, Esoro.

Johannes Seesing, aged 51, who specialises in automotive applications at Bayer, says: "Together with our partners in the automotive industry, we are already carrying out research on the car of tomorrow. The "Senso" is an outstanding example of unconventional ideas and applied lateral thinking."

Granted, it may not look like something you'd want to be seen in, but it makes many advancements in the areas of fuel efficiency and driver interaction.

Making its first appearance at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show, the Senso, which runs on environmentally friendly natural gas, has, not without reason, been labelled the most 'sensuous' car in the world.

The 1385kg concept car is powered by a 3.2-litre boxer engine from the Porsche Boxster S, modified for its service in the Senso to run on gasoline and natural gas.

As a result, emissions of harmful CO2 are reduced by as much as 30 percent. This is because natural gas is an extremely clean burning fuel, consisting almost entirely of methane with virtually no sulphur.

The engine produces 184kW (250hp) @ 6200rpm and has a maximum torque of 300Nm @ 4600rpm. A manual 6-speed transmission transfers the power to the rear axle. The "Senso" accelerates from 0-100km/h in 5.9 seconds and has a top speed of 250 kph.

Optimum traction is provided by Continental SportContact 2 tyres: 235/35 ZR 19 at the front and 255/35 ZR 19 at the rear. They are mounted on 19-inch Barracuda rims at the front and 9.5 x 19-inch rims at the rear.

The "Senso" actually "senses" the driver by measuring his (or her) biometric data, and then exerts a positive effect on him with the help of patterns, colors, music and fragrances.

The idea behind such pampering is that a person who is relaxed and wide-awake simply drives better and more safely.

The whole project is based on an elaborate sensory system that forms the heart of the vehicle. It consists of a number of sensors that have the job of gathering data about the driver's condition.

Firstly, there is a biometric Polar watch to measure the driver's pulse. A "Mobile Eye" camera records his driving behaviour, in other words how well and how often he changes lane, and how close and at what speed he approaches the cars in front.

Then an HP board computer evaluates the data and establishes, with the aid of special algorithms, the driver's current state of mind.

The developers of the concept car speak of "Zen-sorial" with reference to Far Eastern meditation. On the basis of the measured data, the driver now receives various impulses to his senses that put him in a state of relaxed attentiveness.

The idea of 'communicating surfaces' stems from Andreas Fischer, a designer who developed the "zenMotion concept" at the Institute for Computer Sciences at the University of Zurich in close cooperation with the Institute for Psychology at the University of Innsbruck.

The inspiration for the development came from studies by scientists dealing with the emotional effect of moving patterns on people. In the "Senso" - depending on the condition of the driver - four small Sharp LCD monitors emit stimulating (orange/yellow), relaxing (blue/violet) or neutral (green) color patterns into the driver's line of vision. They are integrated into the futuristically designed interior panelling, which lights up over the entire area and bathes the cockpit in dazzle-free ambient light.

The driver sits alone in the middle of the front row, flanked behind by two Recaro passenger seats covered with Italian designer fabrics from Xmobil. On the subject of design, the use of carbon parts in both the interior and the exterior gives the overall car a cool, technical look. The carbon components were custom-made by hand.

The striking speedster windscreen is made of high-grade Makrolon polycarbonate and the window has a scratchproof coating and weighs little more than half as much as a conventional car windscreen. It is also considerably more break-resistant, and opens up entirely new possibilities for car designers.

An optional FBI Bio Drive by Genesis Technology with integrated finger print recognition stores all personal data of the driver and allows an individual adjustment when starting the vehicle.