VW AV at the V&A

Driverless SEDRIC vehicle showcased in The Future Starts Here

The VW SEDRIC on show at the V&A

The VW SEDRIC on show at the V&A

An autonomous vehicle is among the exhibits at a V&A exhibition exploring the cultural effects of new technologies and design. 

The Future Starts Here features more than 100 objects as well as specially commissioned works by US filmmaker Miranda July and Kei Kreutler, creative director of Berlin’s Gnosis, as well as the interaction design studios Stamen and Tellart. 

The exhibition explores the impact these objects may have on the body, the home, politics, cities, and the planet. It strives to provide visitors with a series of ethical and speculative questions to connect the subject matter to the choices that everyone has in their everyday lives.

Visitors to the London museum will also be able to take a seat in Volkswagen’s autonomous concept car SEDRIC and experience how it interacts with passengers. The exhibition’s curators Rory Hyde and Mariana Pestana and future specialists from the Volkswagen Group Future Center Europe in Potsdam engaged in a creative dialogue on the future of mobility. 

The result of the exchange of ideas is the presentation of the Volkswagen SEDRIC (Self-Driving Car), a concept vehicle that shows Volkswagen’s vision for sustainable and autonomous future mobility. 

Tristram Hunt, director of the V&A, said: “Volkswagen’s focus on developing sustainable mobility for the future has a great synergy with some of the exhibition’s key themes. I hope that all of our visitors will enjoy the driverless car simulation provided by Volkswagen within the exhibition”,

Benita von Maltzahn, director global corporate citizenship at Volkswagen Group, said: "The exhibition presents to the public how closely our present time and the future are aligned. Moving beyond just the presentation, this show also describes the creative options and possibilities that have become available for our present and future lives. As a partner of the V&A, we particularly endorse this innovative hands-on approach, showing how closely art, technology and society are joined.”