[Report] The Imaginary Future Cars Created by 'Car Enthusiasts'... Hyundai Motor and Kia's Idea Festival Experience

Hyundai Motor and Kia Idea Festival on the 25th
Idea PT Competition at Namyang Research Center Outdoor Stage
'Mirror-like Digital Side Mirror' Wins Grand Prize
President Yang Heewon: "Developing Technology That Meets Customer Needs Is the Role of R&D"

On the 25th, at Namyang Research Center, the headquarters of Hyundai Motor Company and Kia's technological prowess, Hyundai and Kia researchers were giving presentations on an outdoor stage. In the audience, Yang Hee-won, the head of research and development (R&D), and 50 new employees from Namyang Research Center sat as judges, engaging in passionate discussions about the technology.

This event was the '2024 Idea Festival,' where employees showcase their creative technological ideas. Under the theme "Car Enthusiasts Making Ideals a Reality," six teams presented innovative mobility ideas. Rather than just technical scenarios or presentation-level concepts, they realized their ideas by producing actual vehicles.

The grand prize went to the EAI team, which developed an intuitive digital side mirror that feels like looking into a mirror. The EAI team was formed by four members of the Robotics Vision AI team at Namyang Research Center, who developed the 'ADSM (Active Digital Side Mirror)' technology that adjusts the side mirror position according to the driver's gaze movement.

The adoption rate of the digital side mirror, first applied to the Ioniq 5 by Hyundai, is about 16%. By using a digital side mirror, drivers can view the side and rear of the vehicle through a high-resolution camera instead of a mirror. This reduces noise and air resistance and enables stable driving at night or in rainy conditions. Despite these advantages, only one out of six Ioniq 5 buyers chooses this option due to discomfort and unfamiliarity. While drivers usually move their entire body to view the side mirror from various angles, using a digital camera limits the view to a flat perspective of the vehicle’s side and rear.

The EAI team, which won the grand prize at the Hyundai Motor·Kia 2024 Idea Festival, is explaining the digital side mirror technology that changes the screen angle according to the driver's gaze.
[Photo by Woo Su-yeon]

To address this, the EAI team utilized AI deep learning technology with a face recognition camera to detect the driver’s gaze. Depending on the recognized gaze, the direction of the digital side mirror camera can be adjusted. This creates a screen that feels like looking into a mirror rather than a flat camera display. Won Jong-ha, principal researcher of the Robotics AI Vision team, said, "With the digital side mirror using ADSM, you only need to lift or move your head slightly to check blind spots," adding, "We added an intuitive interface that feels like looking into a real mirror to reduce the unfamiliarity of the digital screen."

Regarding this technology, President Yang said, "After a new technology is introduced, it naturally evolves according to customer demands," and added, "As digital side mirror technology advances, discovering and solving its shortcomings and progressing is the role of research and development (R&D)."

Other than that, the 'Smart Luggage System,' which protects items loaded in the trunk using air pockets, and the 'H-Breeze' humidifying system that utilizes water generated from hydrogen electric vehicles, also received excellence awards. The Smart Luggage System is a technology that equips the trunk with air pockets that can be inflated to prevent items inside from shifting or moving. It is expected to be highly useful for commercial vehicles such as delivery trucks.

The 'H-Breeze' humidifying system wets the humidifier filter with water produced from hydrogen electric vehicles and raises the humidity inside the vehicle by drying the filter. It can be used in winter when the humidity inside the vehicle drops sharply due to heater use, and it suppresses bacterial growth using its own after-blow technology.

The grand prize-winning team received a prize of 10 million KRW and an opportunity to visit CES next year, while the excellence award teams were given 5 million KRW and a chance to explore overseas technologies in the Asia region. Hyundai Motor Company and Kia have been discovering innovative ideas and applying them to actual mass-produced vehicles through the 'Idea Festival,' now in its 15th year. For example, the 'Two-way Multi Console' applied to the new Santa Fe was an idea that won an excellence award at the 2021 festival and was later applied to a mass-produced vehicle.

President Yang said, "The Idea Festival symbolizes the pure passion and spirit of challenge of our employees toward automobiles," and added, "I am confident that the innovative ideas of our employees are the driving force behind Hyundai Motor Company and Kia’s growth and innovation."