X Journey Xiaomi Smart Future Design Competition
On January 27, 2024, the X Journey Xiaomi Smart Future Design Competition (2023) award ceremony was grandly held at Xiaomi Science Park. This competition is hosted by the Art and Technology Innovation Base of Tsinghua University, and the School of Fine Arts of Tsinghua University serves as an academic guidance unit. With the support of Xiaomi Public Welfare Foundation, Tsinghua University Education Foundation, and Xiaomi Group, it is jointly held with multiple design schools across the country. Leaders of various organizers, university mentors, and award-winning students from all over the country gather here to explore and celebrate the future of design together.
2023 is hailed as the first year of AI, and artificial intelligence technology is flourishing and widely applied in multiple fields. 2024 is still a year full of future and technology. New technologies are surging like a tide, constantly breaking, subverting, and reshaping people's imagination of the future. The core of this competition is "Experience Future Technology", focusing on solving the pain points of future people's experiences in life, and creating a more intelligent, convenient, and sustainable future life for people. The competition aims to stimulate the innovative spirit and practical ability of college students, encourage them to integrate future technology, art, and humanities, and propose highly creative product designs and service experiences. Looking forward to the future, the boundaries between virtual and reality, intelligent life, and artificial intelligence will continue to be redefined by young innovators.
Mr. Zeng Xuezhong, Senior Vice President and President of the Mobile Phone Department of Xiaomi Group, introduced important milestones and events in Xiaomi's development, as well as the breakthrough progress in global market share in his opening speech. Under the leadership of Xiaomi's strategic layout of "resonating with China and the world", through each competition, the strongest voice of Chinese design is constantly heard on the global stage.
Subsequently, Mr. Yang Dongjiang, Vice Dean of the School of Fine Arts at Tsinghua University, delivered a speech at the competition and congratulated the actively participating faculty, students, and design teams at home and abroad. This competition encourages and witnesses young designers to bravely shoulder the mission of the times, using cutting-edge technology as tools and humanistic care as the core, to create intelligent products and service experiences that solve life pain points.
From the summary of the competition by Mr. Fu Zhiyong, Director of the Art and Technology Innovation Base at Tsinghua University, we learned that since its launch, the competition has received widespread attention and support from all sectors of society. As of November 20, 2023, a total of 539 teams have registered for the three tracks of the competition, collecting a total of 372 valid works, covering 200 domestic and foreign universities. A total of 80 works were nominated for the finals, and the top 5 teams in each group advanced to the top 20 of the competition, further competing for the championship, runner up, and third place. At the end of the speech, Director Fu expressed gratitude to Xiaomi Group for providing an important stage for young designers around the world to showcase their talents and explore future lifestyles.
In the keynote speech segment of the award ceremony, Mr. Wei Xu, General Manager of Xiaomi's Mobile Phone Industry Design Department and Vice Chairman of Xiaomi Group's Design Committee, gave a keynote speech on "Life Design". From theory to Xiaomi's entire product line, he deeply summarized the design concept and product development process of Xiaomi's "ALIVE Ecological Island". He expressed that the visual design of Xiaomi's brand should incorporate Eastern philosophical ideas, and also believed that technology is evolving, The closer it is to the form of life, the more it echoes Xiaomi's product philosophy of creating products that are close to people's hearts. Finally, Wei Xu extends an invitation to design innovators from around the world, hoping that talented and innovative designers can come to Xiaomi to create everything, so that everyone around the world can enjoy the beautiful life brought by technology.
Finally, Mr. Li Tianyuan, General Manager of Xiaomi's Industrial Design Department and Vice Chairman of Xiaomi Group's Design Committee, gave a keynote speech on "Intuitive Design", revealing the design philosophy and philosophy behind Xiaomi's electric vehicle design from the three key words "efficiency", "intelligence", and "safety", allowing the audience present to witness Xiaomi's forward-looking design philosophy. At the same time, Mr. Li Tianyuan also gave a preliminary introduction to the five core technologies of Xiaomi electric vehicles: electric drive, battery, large die casting, intelligent cockpit, and intelligent driving. Each technology represents Xiaomi's in-depth research and technological innovation in the field of electric vehicles. The integration of these technologies not only demonstrates Xiaomi's pursuit of automotive intelligence and efficiency, but also reflects its emphasis on user experience and safety.
This competition has gone through four months of intense competition, with a total of 2 champions, 2 runners up, and 3 third place winners. 13 Outstanding Awards, 1 Popular Work Award, and 21 Outstanding Mentor Awards. The two works "Mi Blox" and "Heart Hole Action Modular Children's Intelligent Storage Cabinet" won the championship; "Kipoo - Electric Skateboard Design Combining Experimental Music Generation" and "Cyanea" won second place; Three works, "Home in the Wilderness," "Yunshu - Intelligent Sleep Cockpit," and "Body Sound - New Concept Instrument Design Based on Body Interaction," won third place; Works such as "Lifestyle Products - Silver Sparrow Mahjong Machine Design" and "Divertente Intelligent Cockpit" have won excellent awards; CATOPIA Smart Cat Wall won the Popular Works Award; Sun Bowen, Ding Xiong, and others won the Excellent Mentor Award, while 8 universities including Beijing Institute of Technology and Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts won the Excellent Organization Award.
At the award ceremony, it is not only about awarding honors, but also a grand celebration of the deep integration of art and technology concepts. Each award-winning work vividly embodies the power of young designers, not only showcasing outstanding design concepts, but also providing forward-looking guidance for future lifestyles. These award-winning works showcase how technology endows life with more possibilities, enhances people's experience and happiness, and fully embodies the tremendous charm generated by the integration of art and technology through a unique innovative perspective and a people-oriented design concept. Their work is not only a successful design, but also a release of passion and infinite imagination for the future.
In the subsequent roadshow of the top, second, and third place works, fellow contestants on the stage discussed and learned from each other, which was exciting and fruitful. Among them, the champion work "Mi Blox" redefines the future interior space of the car through autonomous driving - it may be a moving living room or a moving living room. This work gives us an imaginative and happy answer. Another champion work, "Heart Hole Action - Modular Children's Intelligent Storage Cabinet", cultivates children's self planning ability and creativity through a combination of software and hardware. The work conveys warm love and high maturity through design. Zhu Yin, Vice President of Xiaomi Mobile and Chairman of Xiaomi Group Design Committee, and Yang Dongjiang, Vice Dean of Tsinghua University School of Fine Arts, respectively presented awards to the two champion teams, expressing high recognition of the works and looking forward to the actual implementation of the design.