Design characterization and automatic identification of character lines in automotive field

Design style and designer role get a great importance in the success of a new product launched in the marketplace. In particular, in the automotive domain a deep connection arises from the created shapes and the user’s emotional states. For this reason the designer role is commonly considered as twofold, being both a technician and an artist. The methodology proposed in this paper does define a design support tool for the definition of shapes in the automotive sector. This methodology is based on the study of the most relevant character lines. These lines are automatically selected by means of CAD tools and then analysed to identify mathematical relations between such lines and other geometrical features typical of the car. This part of the methodology originates a mathematical definition of the style that is associated to a qualitative definition of the style itself, which is based on data coming from user interviews analysed through statistical tools. Based on mathematical and qualitative definitions, a methodology to connect geometrical and emotional data has been developed. This methodology has been applied to a set of cars showing the results presented in this paper. Cars appearances and the emotional feelings they produce are linked together; some relationships are deduced to create a support tool in the early design phase.