Volkswagen. Configurator on Surface

Development of a configuration prototype on the Microsoft Surface table to display during a Top Management presentation in February 2009.

The configurator on Surface uses one scenario to link situations at home (on the computer), on the move (with mobile phone) and at the Volkswagen dealership (Microsoft Surface). It is implemented through the integration of a central web services system from Volkswagen which delivers the images and logistics to the configuration.

Microsoft Surface connects
The Volkswagen configurator on Surface serves as the solution to a central problem in car sales: How can the Volkswagen customer call up and visually edit their custom car configured on their home PC once at the dealership with the sales advisor? Using Microsoft Surface at point of sale makes this possible.

Microsoft Surface involves
The special feature of the Surface user interface: The image, or rather the configuration, can be shared with those sitting across the table by simply rotating the contents of the screen 180 degrees with a simple movement. This is a totally new scenario as the customer was previously little involved in what the sales advisor was entering into his PC.

Microsoft Surface visualizes
In a consultation at the car dealership the customer calls up their configuration on Surface. Based on their personal “car park” (a personalized account which saves all user configured vehicles), the user can view their configured vehicle as they like - zooming in and out and turning the image as they wish.

Tokens are used for the configuration of vehicles – in this case cylinders containing codes – which work as physically movable context menus to be placed freely on the table. By turning these cylinders the user alters the motorization or paint colour of the vehicle.

The completed configuration can then be printed out as well as saved on Surface and a mobile phone.

Firstly a car configuration becomes a dialogue: Multiple partners interact concurrently and collectively on the Surface table. Create a customized vehicle, change colour, motorization and view, spring from version to version at the same time learning about the various Volkswagen technologies through a sequence of short video clips – Microsoft Surface offers an entirely new consultancy interface. In this scenario all media touch points of a potential car sale are integrated at the dealership.