Title	GABRIEL | A HEAT STROKE PROTECTION SYSTEM BY OPEL
Brand	OPEL BELGIUM
Product/Service	GABRIEL | A HEAT STROKE PROTECTION SYSTEM BY OPEL
Category	A01. Innovation
Entrant Company	LDV UNITED Antwerp, BELGIUM
Advertising Agency	LDV UNITED Antwerp, BELGIUM

Name	Company	Position
Bart Gielen	LDV United	Creative Director
Dennis Vandewalle	LDV United	Copywriter
Dries De Bruyn	LDV United	Art Director
Kristof Janssens	LDV United	Head Of Strategy
Ann Hostens	LDV United	Account Director
Tim Janssens	LDV United	Account Manager
Lotte Neirynck	LDV United	Brand Designer
Jeffrey Uten	LDV United	Graphic Designer
Tom Vanhooreweder	LDV United	Digital/Graphic Designer
Eline Goethals	LDV United	Conversation/Pr/Manager
Eli Hermans	LDV United	Digital Account Manager
Mathieu Savenay	LDV United	Digital Producer
Niki Desiron	LDV United	Motion Designer
Eline Van Den Mooter	Opel Belgium	Marketing Manager
Karen Van Dyck	Opel Belgium	Manager Digital/Crm
Jürgen Oskamp	Achilles	Product Development
Dr.ir. Johan Coosemans	Zenso	Product Electronics
Francis Bosschem	Boss'em	Film Production
Raf Debraekeleer	Cobra	Sound Design
Pieter Neirynck	Film Production	Camera Production

The Brief

Opel asked us to create awareness for their car options, positioning Opel as a true innovator. One major problem: Opel offers exactly the same options as its competitors. That’s why we told Opel to communicate options… that don’t exist YET. How? We asked drivers to invent their own brilliant options. Why? Because the brightest options aren’t always conceived in labs. A simple insight, with a huge outcome. Out of 1340 consumer-ideas, we chose to realize one gamechanging concept that really makes a difference to society: Opel Gabriel. Gabriel is an option that protects children from dying of a heatstroke inside the car. It watched over your children as a guardian angel.It’s a small key fob that connects wirelessly to a pressure-sensitive mat made to fit every child seat. Whenever the driver leaves the car with the child seat still occupied, an initial warning will sound. From that point on, the mat constantly measures the temperature inside the car. If it rises above 28°C, the heat alarm on the key ring will go off, signaling the driver to return immediately to the car. The option was perfected and produced into a fully functional prototype by a team of product-developers and engineers.

Every summer an average of 20 forgotten children die from heat-strokes inside a car, it can literally happen to anyone. These tragedies keep making headlines. In the past, several technological studies and experiments were performed, but no one ever found a fitting answer to prevent this kind of horror. This situation was our challenge. It inspired us to conceive a prevention device as this should never happen again. Together with the initial inventor, a product development-team and a group of engineers we created an option that watches over your children as a guardian angel: Opel Gabriel. Gabriel is a key-fob we developed which connects to a pressure-sensitive mat that can be installed in any child seat. If the driver leaves the car with a child inside, a warning signal will sound. At the same time, the mat measures the temperature inside the car. As soon as the temperature rises above 28°C an alarm is activated and you have to return to the car. Gabriel has following specs and is thoroughly tested on reliability & functionality by Zenso (innovative electronics), a technology spin-off company of the University of Leuven: > The mat communicates via RF with the parent’s car key-fob > The alarm sounds in 3 cases (temperature, distance & lost connection) > System is operational for children from 0-4 years > Temperature accuracy: +-1°C. > Rechargeable via 12V car-recharger > Battery life: 3months > Reach car seat – key fob: 100m outdoor (line-of-sight) We installed a fully-operational betaversion of Gabriel on the inventor’s car. But it doesn’t end here. This project, a 9 month-during storytelling campaign, got massive media attention as it resulted in a lifesaving device. But most important, Gabriel was picked up by the European Commission, who’s trying to obligate the option in every car.

Today we have a fully functional beta device that stood all crucial testing. Nonetheless it still needs some refinement on the internal and external level. Internal: we are testing some alternative electronic ports as they are little less expensive than the ones that are being used right now. External: the final product design is almost finished, but we want to make Gabriel’s shell as thin as possible. It is our goal to hit mass market with Gabriel because it’s a device that anyone should benefit from. During the campaign Opel Gabriel generated massive media response. As a result several third parties contacted us as they are interested in producing and/or distributing the device. But the most important lead we have up until today is the European Commission. They want to obligate this option in every European car and are helping us to make the right decisions. This partnership could give Gabriel wings.