The Brief

Aston Martin are passionate about the cars they produce and know this is a passion shared by their customers. Aston Martin believe that a sports car should have a distinctive character. They feel it should be built to the highest standards and be exhilarating to drive and own.

Many things have changed over their ninety plus years of heritage, but those goals are still very relevant today.

"To create a car closer to art than the automobile. That was the aim". Marek Reichman, Director of Design.

The ONE-77 is Aston Martin.

At the end of 2006 Aston Martin had started to concept a car that embodied all that was Aston Martin. They took this concept and started to design the ONE-77. The One-77 is the ultimate expression of what Aston Martin stands for and combines modern technology and design with craftsmanship and ultimate exclusivity to create the world's most desirable automotive art form.
Aston Martin wanted to build just 77 cars in an exclusive process that was unique and on a dedicated production line at their Gaydon facility. Aston Martin's issue was that their current in-car system was using dated technology and needed to be updated and improved to match the quality of the car. The long term plan was that this infotainment in-car system would not only be fitted into the ONE-77, but was to form the basis for in-car systems for all future production of cars at Aston Martin.

The primary aim was to provide the expected basic features of a modern car system that included Sat Nav/GPS, phone capability and audio entertainment.

The secondary aim was to provide the features expected of a modern luxury car. Parking cameras, Bluetooth capability and full compatibility with modern audio devices (iPod, MP3 players, address book syncing).

The tertiary aim was to provide the conceptual design of new features unmatched in other systems. Synchronisation of music files, recording in-car video, full telemetry and in-car PC
The system was designed by Splendid, built with technical partner Skyships and then assembled at Gaydon by Aston Martin.

How We Did It?

In the winter of '07-08', we created a prototype of the system in conjunction with Microsoft and Aston Martin. This verified menu structures and basic interaction with the joystick. With the prototype we proved basic PC syncing, in-car video recording, a first pass at picking up CAN bus telemetry and GPS/Virtual Earth capability. This was then installed in a mule DBS, which was taken to Millbrook to gather telemetry data and prove the interaction design of the system. The prototype also featured at the keynote at Microsoft's technology conference, Mix 08'. A video can be seen here.

In the autumn of '08', Aston Martin commissioned Splendid to create the system based on the proof of concept.

This meant:
A complete understanding of the product from concept through to delivery of the in-car system. The designing of the entire system and a remote PC-based management and Sync application.

We achieved this by:

• Running an intense 5-month project
• Working to a process of Researching, exploring, Wire framing, Visual design of key templates, modules and documentation
• Working closely with Aston Martin at Gaydon, with the team split between Gaydon and Splendid's London office.
• Analysing many infotainment systems from Jaguar, Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, Ferrari, Honda, Audi, Ford, Land Rover, Nissan and many others within the automotive industry and outside it.
• Refining the design brief with Aston Martin directors, project team and design department.
• Refining the wireframes and concept with Aston Martin's team
• Working closely with Aston Martin's technical partner to ensure we were working to realistic technical constraints.
• Verifying design direction through a series of user scenarios and consistent testing.

A number of concepts were explored during the project, alongside Aston Martin's internal DIM development project, and the final design was influenced by glassy 'projected' interfaces and to provide a neutral backdrop to the almost unlimited interior trim options.

Working closely with Aston Martin meant fast iterations and high visibility of our progress and direction. Aston Martin input was considered, consumed and responded to throughout the process.

Solution

The deployed system features a fully integrated display with all infotainment and HVAC controls being managed through this interface. The input device is a 4-way joystick supported by a home and back button. This was chosen over touch screen or rotary controls for ease of use at the intended driving speeds of the One-77.

The following features were developed;
Audio: The audio system features full radio, CD capabilities along with the ability to choose media from a removable USB thumb drive or hard disk. These can be used to sync media with your home PC. Radio functions include the usual FM and MW but also DAB radio and the ability to create a playlist of favorite radio stations. Full audio settings can be managed within the system that allow users to get sonic perfection with the Bang & Olufsen custom audio system.

Satellite Navigation: A full custom navigation system was designed based on the Navtek platform. With a full safety camera warnings and tailored POI list. A custom icon set was developed for Aston Martin that is also used on the Garmin based system on the Cygnet and Virage models to ensure consistency.

Communication: The system allows users to fully sync their phone and contacts with the car and link this into the navigation system.

Parking: The car features front and rear reversing cameras that are accessed via the infotainment system.

"The ultimate expression of Aston Martin."

Ulrich Bez CEO of Aston Martin

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