Kia Turns Road Trips Into Sensory Journeys For Visually Impaired

Kia is experimenting with a different approach, combining technology and creativity to make time in the car more engaging, even allowing the visually impaired to experience it.

This is in an effort to realize the dreams of visually impaired individuals who want to enjoy road trips as much as normal people do, experiencing the journeys firsthand without the need for a driver or passenger to narrate the sights.






Kia and marketing agency Innocean recently unveiled an AI-powered innovation called Kia Soundscapes, which turns landscapes into soundtracks. The goal of the two companies is to give visually impaired people a new way to experience adventure by using sound to imply what can't be seen.

The science behind the innovation is based on studies that show music can stimulate the visual cortex of the brain in blind people, which is normally in charge of processing visual information.

As a result, Kia developed a sound system where each element of the surrounding environment has a unique sound. Trees, mountains, rocks, and water were all translated into unique auditory cues using sounds that were produced in a studio.

The vehicle's ADAS sensors identify these objects, and the AI interface generates a soundtrack that changes in response to them. For example, mountains may be accompanied by loud, resonant tones, while forests and bushes may be accompanied by gentle woodwind sounds. The tempo and tone of the soundtrack also adjust based on the vehicle's speed.

The Kia Soundscapes was tested with two visually impaired people who were driven in the all-electric EV9 through scenic landscapes. Both of them were genuinely moved by the experience of listening to the soundtrack created in real-time, although it is unclear how this technology would work outside of a controlled setting.