A team of design students at the Braunschweig University of Art, under the supervision of Dr. Manuel Kretzer, visiting professor ‘Digital Crafting’, cooperated with AUDI’s development/innovation unit, lead by Mike Herbig, to rethink the notion of the car seat and create an innovative vision of a dynamic structure for the future of autonomous driving. What if the car of the future would be more than a mere means of transportation? What if it were to become a partner that reacts and responds to our actions, an organism, a friend, that lives and breathes? […] The design part was strongly inspired by forms and systems occurring in nature to develop a structurally sound, lightweight system to house an array of active components. Following numerous studies of parametrically designed shapes the decision was made to focus on 3D printing as the most viable method for the 1:1 realisation of complex forms. […] In parallel the second team developed and produced a set of 38 bespoke, active components that became incorporated into the seat’s surface to dynamically adjust its visual and haptic properties. The components are ought to […] enhance the user’s identification with the animate object through motions of breathing. Finally a number of customized cushions from a high-performance fabric were added in five separate areas to guarantee the necessary comfort and stability.