Toyota gets it. Content is everywhere, every brand has it’s share, and the smart ones are creating it themselves.
Toyota asked for content, so Saatchi & Saatchi LA asked “What if the Prius wasn’t a car? What if it was a bicycle?” They enlisted the help of Deeplocal and Parlee Bikes, and let imagination take it from there. Every element of the Prius bike was concepted in reference to the Prius cars: efficiency, minimal waste and environmental friendliness were key concerns. The frame is slick: matte white with a gloss white logo, long smooth lines, and a few unexpected tweaks to standard design like moving the rear breaks down behind the rear derailleur/cog set and adding an iPhone dock that’s as good looking as the rest of the bike.
The sexiness of the design is just the beginning. The rider wears a helmet fitted with electroencephalogram (EEG) sensors and a backpack with a computer. The EEG neuron transmitters will read the electrical signals of the brain, convert them to commands, send them wirelessly to an electronic gear shifter which then shifts the gears of the bike. So, to put all of that another way: to shift the gears of this bicycle you simply think about it.
As if shifting gears with your mind wasn’t enough the bike can also learn your patterns. So, if you ride the same hill to work everyday the bike, via GPS, will know when you are approaching and begin to downshift for you. It can also measure cadence and speed, and shift gears accordingly.
This was an incredibly interesting panel, not only for the really cool concept bike, but also because seeing a brand embrace self-generated content in such a creative and thoughtful way was refreshing.
