| Title | VOLKSPARKING |
| Brand | VOLKSWAGEN |
| Product/Service | AN INTERACTIVE BASKETBALL COURT |
| Category |
A02. Creative Innovation |
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Entrant
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DDB BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
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Idea Creation
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DDB BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
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Credits
| Peter Ampe |
DDB Brussels |
Creative Director |
| Odin Saillé |
DDB Brussels |
Creative Director |
| Romain Felix |
DDB Brussels |
Art Director |
| Johnathan Benois |
DDB Brussels |
Art Director |
| Silvie Erzeel |
DDB Brussels |
Account Manager |
| Kenn Van Lijsebeth |
DDB Brussels |
PR Manager |
| Sylvie De Couvreur |
DDB Brussels |
Account Director |
| Anneleen Vande Voorde |
DDB Brussels |
Account Executive |
| Stefanie Warreyn |
DDB Brussels |
Head of digital production |
| Sven Verfaille |
DDB Brussels |
Designer |
The Campaign
Volkswagen created Volksparking; a mobile basketball hoop with built-in sensors, searches empty parking spaces and turns them into playgrounds. Installed at a parking lot in Belgium, the installation allowed local residents to use the free spaces as a play area. The hoop makes use of customized software and took 8 months to produce.
Creative Execution
The software that is used for the installation of the moving basketball hoop was tailor-made for Volksparking; it is based on a script that constantly registers where cars are parked or not parked and releases various scenarios there. To make the idea real, we have used various new structural calculations. For example, the motor of the basket is adjusted so that whenever someone hangs (or climbs) on it, it stops.
Also the controls are customised. We only used the beginning of the software that was also developed for ‘defence’.
The issues of this project were around registering a car, group of people, bicycle, etc. Here we work with resistance measurement so that a person who blocks the sensor is not seen as a car.
The initiative got Volkswagen in the news again with positive exposure; “A combination of creativity, technology and social engagement”, Little Black Book, “This initiative shows cleverly how the city can be shared by everybody”, Trendhunter
The installation attracted the attention of other cities. At the moment we are preparing the installation of 4 more Volksparkings in Belgium.
Volksparking was developed in partnership with MIT, the mobile hoop is just one of the many ideas to humanise parking lots.
Parking lots are ugly, concrete spaces that are often busy at certain times, but unused at other. Volksparking addesses this issue with a specially invented basketball hoop that travels along the parking lot, making use of free space as and when it becomes available, creating a multifunctional space that can also be used during quiet times. The software used was tailor-made; it is based on a script that constantly registers where cars are parked (using resistance measurement to distinguish between people and cars) and takes into account various structural calculations. For example, an emergency stop when someone hangs/climbs on it.