HELSINKI, VANTAA <\/strong>and OULU Finland, September 15, 2020 <\/strong>– The Origo Steering Wheel\u202fconcept has received recognition from the German Design Awards council for outstanding design quality. The project was chosen as a Winner in the category of Excellent Product Design \u2013 Human-Machine Interface. German Design Awards is one of the world\u2019s most highly renowned design competitions. High standards are assured by an international jury recognizing only projects that truly represent pioneering contributions to the German and international design landscape. The Origo Steering Wheel was developed within the Finnish automotive ecosystem, in collaboration between\u202fCanatu,\u202fSiili Auto,\u202fTactoTek\u00ae\u202f,\u202fRightware, and\u202fNorthern Works\u202fas a part of the Multimodal In-Vehicle Interaction and Intelligent Information Presentation (MIVI) project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are all proud that this new, jointly developed HMI solution has drawn great interest and has been awarded with such a prestigious prize,” said Juha Kokkonen, CEO, Canatu Oy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Origo Steering Wheel shows the value of re-imagining user experiences by integrating inspired design, innovative 3D touch surfaces, and leading-edge software. With the new Origo Steering Wheel, the driver can manage all key functions purely by thumbs without letting go of the steering wheel, minimizing distractions, and improving safety. By adapting the strengths of mobile device interaction patterns to driver controls, this team of Finnish companies has developed a solution that delivers convenience, style, and safety.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Transparent three-dimensional touch surfaces enable an intuitive HMI and enhance freedom by design. Only relevant information is displayed on-screen at any time to avoid over-stimulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe initial idea of the Origo steering wheel was to challenge the status quo of the existing steering wheel HMI and not just take the easy route of converting analog controls into digital versions. Our lives have become cluttered with information and overstimulated with choices, so we wanted to offer the driver clarity with our steering wheel concept and reduce functions and controls to just the bare necessities,\u201d said Miika Heikkinen, Lead Designer, Northern Works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While designing a minimalistic and intuitive HMI, the team wanted physical forms to be expressive, supporting the use of controls, something that the current touch screens and capacitive controls quite often lack. The final Origo design perfectly aligns physical controls with the digital UI, creating an intuitive and exciting user experience unlike anything seen on cars before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne way of overcoming the fear of new is to make it look familiar. Nowhere is this more true than in a car\u2019s user interface, and the Origo concept does a superb job of incorporating new interactions into a familiar context,\u201d said V\u00e4in\u00f6 Leskinen, CEO, Siili Auto Oy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n German Design Awards council advances the design-oriented landscape by identifying unique design trends and rewarding the best entries across three main categories: \u201cExcellent Product Design,\u201d \u201cExcellent Communications Design,\u201d and \u201cExcellent Architecture.\u201d The 2021 competition attracted a total of 4,172 project submissions from 60 countries, and the international jury rewarded 955 participants with Special Mention, 362 with Winner, and 67 with Gold across 71 sub-categories. The winners will receive their prizes at the official award ceremony on February 19, 2021, as a part of the Ambiente 2021 trade show in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n