GINA

I saw GINA on the TV for the first time last week and I immediately fell in love. There is nothing else quite like her and when she winks, it is like a stab through the heart. Her curves are like none other and her skin is as smooth as silk.

Seriously, GINA is a great concept car. The fundamental question that it tries to answer is what happens when the traditional skin is removed. The safety and stability aspects of a car is taken care of with the main frame. So, BMW replaced the skin with a rubberised fabric.

As a result, the car takes on the shape of the frame. By making parts of the frame movable, the car is able to morph its shape and adjust its size for different applications. It can raise a rear spoiler for those high speed runs on the freeway, or broaden its luggage compartment when extra space is needed.

In addition, light is able to feed through the fabric. Therefore, the lights can shine through even when they are hidden under the fabric. This diffuses the light and produces a soft glow, which is suitable for the brake lights and indicators. The headlamps light the way through an opening in the fabric – the eyes.

This got me thinking that, the same concept can also be applied to other things. If it can be used on a car, it can most certainly be used on consumer electronics. I would love to see someone like Apple, maybe take this up and make things with fabric skins instead of plastics. That would be truly fashionable.