To launch Hyundai’s all-electric, high-performance IONIQ 5 N, Hyundai Motor Europe and Innocean set a unique challenge for the car: beat the winter blues in one of Europe’s darkest cities.
IONIQ 5 N is not a traditional car; it’s an everyday sportscar with racetrack capabilities and features such as N Drift Optimizer and N Grin Boost, which allow for peak performance and driving pleasure at the touch of a button.
So, instead of a traditional launch campaign, Hyundai teamed up with a neuroscientist to measure the physical and neurological changes that take place in a human when driving IONIQ 5 N, with the aim of testing whether the car has a positive effect.
The winter blues, also called seasonal affective disorder (S A D), affects more than 390 million people every year. The conditions that contribute to S A D are heightened in Rjukan, Norway, which is one of Europe’s darkest cities – and its surrounding region immersed in darkness for nearly half the year. Rjukan’s challenging conditions made it the perfect setting to see if driving IONIQ 5 N can beat the blues even in the depths of winter.
The scientific test, called “Experiment N”, took place on a frozen river across four days with 20 participants from Rjukan and surrounding regions. Each driver was screened for S A D, with those fitting the screening criteria being recruited as participants.
Hyundai enlisted neuroscientist Shani Tal and her team to develop the ‘DOJO’ metric, short for ‘Depth of Joy’. This is a first-of-its kind method for measuring the physical and neurological changes before, during, and after driving. DOJO is a new concept that records the emotional impact of driving IONIQ 5 N.
Each participant’s DOJO was assessed by combining various technologies measuring a range of bodily metrics, including brain waves, skin responses, and heart rate variability along with a range of qualitative data metrics.
“It’s often said that driving boosts joy. But for the first time, we’re putting this claim to the test. This is why we measure a whole range of different bodily metrics to test DOJO in these individuals,” Shani Tal, lead neuroscientist.
The results of the experiment were overwhelmingly positive. The drivers experienced an increase in DOJO by 28%, with an increase of the positive reactions ranging up to 67%. In addition, 75% of the drivers experienced an overall improved positive emotional response. With this, IONIQ 5 N becomes the first car to beat the winter blues, even in one of Europe’s darkest cities.
