Kia Europe turns road trips into sound journeys for visually impaired people

South Korea – Automobile manufacturer, Kia Europe and creative agency Innocean Berlin have launched Soundscapes, a creative experiment that transforms the traditional road trip into a musical journey for passengers with vision loss. Using the Kia EV9’s ADAS system, the car’s AI interprets the landscape’s topography and translates it into sound so that visually impaired passengers can experience their surroundings through music. 

‘At Kia, we believe movement inspires ideas,’ says David Hilbert, marketing director of Kia Europe. ‘With Kia Soundscapes, we are exploring how technology can tear down barriers and help us create a more inclusive and accessible world.’ 

The system was developed in collaboration with creative coder Harald Schaack from Grotesk.Group and music producer Wonder Bettin from DaHouse, who assigned specific sounds to objects in the landscape based on their texture and size. 

‘Music awakens the imagination in ways other senses cannot,’ says Bettin. 

Kia showcased the innovation through documentary-style films featuring two passengers with vision loss experiencing the emotional power of Soundscapes for the first time, reinforcing its philosophy of ‘movement that inspires’. 

Explore our Pimp My Ride report to learn more about how gaming, entertainment and smart technology are transforming how passengers engage while on the road.