Camelar: AI Product Ideation for Camel Inspired Cars

By Tojin T. Eapen

We used AI tools (chatGPT and Stable Diffusion) to generate concept cars ("Camelars") that are inspired by camels, which are known for their exceptional ability to survive and thrive in rugged and challenging environments. 

We wanted Camelars to ideally include features and capabilities that would allow them to perform well in conditions such as rough terrain, extreme temperatures, and limited resources. For this, we generated the following description of the Camelar, a bioinspired car that borrows from the appearance and characteristics of the camel.

Generate an image of a car inspired by a camel, designed for long distance travel through harsh or remote environments. The car should have a spacious and comfortable interior with amenities like a built-in kitchen and sleeping quarters, as well as storage compartments for supplies and equipment. The exterior should feature a rugged and durable design, with features like high ground clearance, all-terrain tires, and reinforced body panels to protect against rough terrain and extreme weather conditions. The car should also have a hydration system, similar to a camel's ability to store water in its hump, to allow for extended travel without the need for frequent stops. Additionally, the car should have a solar panel array on the roof to generate electricity for powering the vehicle and its amenities

We then gave the above prompt to a text-to-image generator (Stable Diffusion) including both references to its appearance but also to its functional characteristics. 

Here are the top 10 (rated by us) and the five least useful concept Camelars generated by AI:

10: The Camelar Buggyback

9: The Camelar Confident

8: The Camelar Crisp

7: The Camelar Courager

6: The Camelar Terrain Hunter

5: The Camelar Corpa

4: The Camelar Twister

3: Camelar Scientific

2: The Camelar Criss (Runnerup)

1: The Camelar Nightshader (Winner!)

Least Useful # 1: The Camelar Couch

Least Useful # 2: The Camelar Humpback

Least Useful # 3: The Camelar Stagefright

Least Useful # 4: The Camelar Camelia

Least Useful # 5: The Camelar Caravana

We also used the similar prompts to generate Eaglex concepts using Midjourney, another popular text-to-image convertor. Here are some of the concepts it generated. A detailed prompt with a description of several functional features generated the following concepts.

In contrast, a prompt that simply requested a "car inspired by a camel, "generated the following concepts.

This post is part of a series of articles on the use of generative AI for bioinspired product ideation. The use of AI for product concept generation allows for the quick creation of many potentially novel designs, which could then be evaluated and refined to select the most promising concepts to move to the next stage of the product development process.

To learn how leading Fortune Global 500 companies such as ABB, Bosch, Google, Samsung, and NetApp have used Innomantra's Functional Innovation Methodology to turbocharge their idea management process, schedule a meeting today at calendly.com/innomantra.