Photojournalists of 2030 could be covering assignments from the comfort of their own drone-launching, environment sensing, light-emitting car — at least if Dillion Kane has anything to say about it. Kane, a transportation design student at Lawrence Technological University, won the Magna Bold Perspective Award on Sunday for his concept car designed for photojournalists.
Kane was one of 11 students that were asked to design a futuristic car for the year 2030 and beyond as part of the competition hosted by Magna and designed to celebrate the launch of the North American International Auto Show. The new competition awards the car with the boldest futuristic concept, championing Kane’s concept car, called 30 Degrees West, in the contest’s first year.
Kane’s car pays particular attention to the car’s exterior rather than the interior (after all, in 2030, self-driving cars could be mainstream, though Kane’s design is still meant to be driven by people). On the roof is a door that opens to a matching camera drone — if the built-in ladder can’t get you high enough for the shot. Exterior compartments (which Kane says would open silently) allow for easy access to additional camera gear. The car could even light up the shot with a built-in soft light.
Kane said he researched ideas for the car by identifying several key complaints from photographers on blogs. While the shape of the car is more reminiscent of a rooftop cargo carrier than a car itself, Kane expects that cars of the future will be more reliant on user experience, which ultimately means personalizing the car for specific users, like a car designed for photojournalists.
As just a rendered concept car, photographers (for now) can only dream about a drone-launching, all-terrain photo mobile — but perhaps the Magna award shows hope for a similar vehicle to one day become reality.
