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CHANGE COUNTRY
  • Kia Soundscapes

    We believe movement inspires ideas.

    Inspiration is born from movement, from the pulse of experience. At Kia, we strive to ignite that spark in everyone—especially in those who have yet to feel it. That’s why we create spaces that awaken new ideas and fuel your journey.

     

    With Kia’s technology, we’ve transformed the world’s beauty into sound. Driven by this concept, we embarked on a journey—offering passengers with vision loss an opportunity to experience the world in a new way.

  • A new look at ADAS technology.

    Led by data analyst Harald Schaack, we used the Advanced Driver Assistance System, initially designed for obstacle detection, to recognize key natural features of landscapes, such as mountains, rocks, bushes, trees, grass, and other terrain structures.

    Kia Soundscapes

  • Getting inspired by music.

    Neuroscience shows that music activates the visual cortex in blind individuals [1], making it a powerful tool for enhancing their understanding of surroundings [2]. With this in mind, we teamed up with music producer Wonder Bettin to create a landscape-to-music language that transforms nature’s beauty into a symphony.

     

    We assigned each element detected by the car a distinct musical counterpart. Every instrument was carefully selected to capture the essence of size, texture, and structure of the landscape. Thus, towering mountains became deep drone synths, while trees came to life through flutes, oboes, and bassoons.

    Kia Soundscapes
  • Kia Soundscapes

    Turning the landscape into sound.

    We created an interface that merges camera data with studio-developed sounds. Whenever an element of nature is detected, the artificial intelligence matches it with a corresponding sound, composing a symphony. 


     

    The AI acts as a conductor, guiding an orchestra of nature and bringing the landscape to life through sound. With every turn, the rhythm shifts, and as the car speeds up, the melody grows, impressing the listener with each twist.

  • Kia Soundscapes.

    An idea to inspire everyone to see the world differently.

    To showcase the power of our technology, we took two passengers with vision loss on a journey through some of the world’s most beautiful landscapes and captured their stories as they experienced nature through music for the first time.

    Kia Soundscapes
  • Kia Soundscapes

    Without vision, my world suddenly changed.

    This is Anne. In her 30s, she was diagnosed with Corneal Dystrophy, a rare condition that took her sight. Now, Anne experiences the world through untapped senses, discovering beauty in new ways and enjoying life more deeply than ever.

     

    We took Anne on a road trip to a desert valley, where beauty was felt and heard, stirring deep emotions.







  • Music was my first language.

    Meet Danny. Born blind due to a malformed retina, his eyes take in the world, but his brain can't process it into images. From a young age, sound became Danny’s world. He experiences life as one grand song, finding joy in its rhythm and hoping to inspire others.

     

    We took Danny on a road trip through an open valley to an emerald lake, where his connection to sound evolved in ways he never imagined.

    Kia Soundscapes




    • Hear what they have seen.

      Explore the beauty of the landscape through music by listening to the soundtracks of Anne and Danny's road trips.

  • [1] Arnaud, L., Gracco, V., & Ménard, L. (2018). Enhanced perception of pitch changes in speech and music in early blind adults. Neuropsychologia, 117, 261-270.

     

    [2] Sabourin, C. J., Merrikhi, Y., & Lomber, S. G. (2022). Do blind people hear better?. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 26(11), 999-1012.

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    Legal Disclaimer

     

    The technology shown is an experiment and simulated for artistic purposes. It is not currently available or installed in any Kia vehicle.