Hyundai Motor and Kia showcase future mobility at 2026 Idea Festival

Hyundai Motor and Kia held the finals of the ‘2026 Idea Festival’ at the Namyang Research Institute to showcase employee-led innovations in future mobility. The 17th annual event, themed ‘Origin of the Next’ to mark the 30th anniversary of the research center, featured six teams that spent four months developing physical prototypes.

The grand prize was awarded to the ‘M.S.V. 2’ team for their ‘Trifold Luggage Board,’ designed to maximize trunk space. Other notable entries included ‘Eye-Bridge,’ smart glasses to assist the visually impaired, and ‘Motion Sickness Zero,’ which uses ambient lighting and rear screens to reduce passenger discomfort. Other projects focused on AI-based infant monitoring and adaptive car seats.

In addition to the main festival, the companies introduced a new hackathon called ‘24H Code Race’ to foster software and AI development. The top prize in the hackathon went to ‘TaleSync,’ a responsive audio storytelling app for children. Hyundai and Kia intend to review the integration of winning ideas, such as those from the hackathon, into actual production vehicles.