The best of 2011: The top three auto Seeds of the year

Frankfurt, London, Oslo – Out of my three stand-out auto seeds of this year, only one super-intuitive concept made it on to the list. The other two, are advertising campaigns that I found particularly compelling.

Volvo created an intuitive interface for its Concept You car. A touchscreen wakes up when the driver glances in its direction, and provides information on the road. Another sensor recognises hand movements to activate the car’s infotainment system.

I was also impressed by the online/offline merging in Mercedes’ Escape the Map campaign. Through a series of games, you help a girl Marie who is trapped inside Google Maps. After helping her escape, she leaves a voicemail on your phone saying thank you.

The third auto seed I’ve picked is a great example of gamification by Volkswagen. To show how economical its new Golf Blue Motion is, the car maker turned Norway’s route E6 into a giant roulette wheel and using Google Maps, had people bet online where it would run out of fuel.