"Humanity is divided into three categories, those who can not move, those that can move and those who move". In this quotation from Benjamin Franklin it aims to clarify the human behavior, this sentence made Benjamin Pérot want to know us - human being a bit better. The notion of moving mentioned in this quote does not just deal with the movement, but human actions to improve its environment and its existence on Earth. As designer, we design objects for men, then writing a dissertation on human beings seemed to be interesting.

When we talk about humans, we're immediately confronted with body. A body that lives, filled with energy. The energy is an interesting notion, it is a word that we hear everyday concerning our health or planet's resources. So I investigated the notion of energy and the human body and tried to find a close connection between. And my thesis question became : How as a designer can I make the human body a new energy source?
-Benjamin Pérot

We need energy to survive, that is what makes us dependent. Humans have extraordinary abilities that we use in a wrong way sometimes. In my point of view, we would learn to share, balance and control us. In this current context with energy shortages, overcrowding, pollution and growing health problem, we should explore new energies, new networks to control mobility, have a sustainable production and help our body to become stronger. My goal then was to imagine an ecosystem of mobility that should take into account all the notions I just outlined.
-Benjamin Pérot

An ecosystem of mobility consists of 3 components, the network, the energy and the vehicle. For example, I think cars are the way that are today because their design and technology are based on the form of roads and the kind of fuel we are using. This model, in some areas, is for me is obsolete because some networks are saturated and the fuels we use pollute. Imagining a new network using new energies will design a new vehicle. And my personal question became, how as a designer could I integrate the energy of the human body in a shared vehicle for a new sustainable mobility ecosystem?
-Benjamin Pérot

I have developed 3 tracks of inspiration, the concept of shared vehicle, the swing system, and human weight. The concept of sharing is in the idea of sharing space and skills, sharing feelings, build relationships, meet and work together. The concept of swing refers to the balance. It's a children's game in kindergarten that we all know, which aims to use the weight of the other to propel ourselves one after the other. It is a system that also call for cooperation between two individuals, encouraging the sharing sensations and optimizing strengths. Then, the human body weight is an omnipresent force in nature, this is a mechanical force due to gravity on Earth, It is sometimes used to create energy. Some streets are made of tiles that capture the weight of passersby to illuminate the streetlights.
-Benjamin Pérot

The city of Paris used a French manufacturer PSA to achieve a clean vehicle in this new network. The purpose of the vehicle is to encourage users to share the driving, using balance. The vehicle only led to two, the two users are invited to cooperate in a shared moment, feeling and complicity, recalling the racing sidecars, both cockpits are linked. Normally, in any vehicle architecture, the interior is inside and outside is outside. Peugeot proposes to change this by setting the cockpits outside the body bringing users closer to the driving experience.
-Benjamin Pérot

I don't know if I can give advice as I don't have enough experience and don’t think I am good enough to give any. But I still guess young design students in transportation should stay open minded, getting inspired from everywhere, travel, accepts to fail sometimes to progress faster, and being a bit naive so they can forget a bit the walls that can cut out our imagination, that should help to push our limits forward, I guess it does for me so far. :)
-Benjamin Pérot

About Benjamin Pérot

Benjamin Perot, after getting his degree in economics in France & USA. Studied industrial design at Strate école de design in Sèvres, France. He has been drawing since he was a kid and looking for a future into expressing his creativity through drawing. Industrial design seemed to fit what he wanted. He was curious about all field of design, packaging, product, architecture but he finally found a great interest into transportation. He got an internship at Renault during his 3rd year then Volvo for the 4th year as automotive interior designer. He also went to Suzuki in Japan for a summer job and for his master internship at the Mercedes Advanced design studio at Como Italy, where he is right now. He specialized in automotive interior. He thinks it's very challenging. What he like, is creating ship with an interior space that moves people from a place to an other, integrating special driving feelings or passengers needs. He also enjoys thinking about all the the details that are directly linked to human movements in all kind of vehicles. Of course style and brand identity is important but you have to consider ergonomics, security, aerodynamics, materials, industrialization, costs, which makes it a passion. See more of his works on Behance.