By John Shim
Research & Development Planning Team
Hello everyone. I’m John Shim of the R&D Planning Team. This is my first posting on Kia Buzz.
Kia unveiled the production version of Soul at the Paris Motor Show last week. I’m sure many of you have already read about Soul on Kia Buzz. With its stylish design, Soul makes a unique statement that puts it in a class of its own. I’m sure people who’ve seen the car will agree. At first, even I was confused by Soul’s design. I asked myself if it was an SUV or a sedan or something else.
Along with its unique character, Soul boasts a host of fun new technologies. I will talk about one of those technologies today. What you’ve heard about Soul so far is just the tip of the iceberg!
Let’s take a look at Sound volume reflecting speaker lamp. This is a unique item in Soul. When you play music, the light in the front speaker changes depending on the music.
You say you’ve seen that already in another car? Well, this is totally different from other speaker lamps out there. Light is emitted from the speaker perimeter in other cars. In contrast, light is emitted from inside the speaker in Soul and it reacts sensitively to the rich and moving sound from Soul’s 8-speaker system including the powerful center speaker. The result is an ideal harmony of light and sound. You’ll feel like you’re at a party or a concert.
The speaker lamp offers four lighting modes (On, Music, Mood, Off). The light will stay on if you choose ‘On’ mode. Under ‘Music’ mode, brightness will change to reflect the music volume, base tone and beat. ‘Mood’ mode sees the speaker light brighten and dim back and forth at 2-second intervals. If you want to just listen to music, then switch to ‘Off’ mode.
There are five levels of brightness. How about opting for bright light for strong drum and bass sounds such as rock music or house music you hear at parties? Subtle lighting may be more suitable for classical tunes or if you’re sharing quality time with that special someone.
With the sound of house music or rock from Kia Soul, you’ll feel as if you’re at a party, swaying your body to the music with a cold beer in one hand. Or see what it’s like to be listening to a rock band in front of the stage at an outdoor concert. Of course, you should always remember to drive safely!
I plan to get into a Soul, turn on the speaker lamp system, and listen to the live version of U2’s “With or Without you.” Doesn’t it sound great? I hope all you will soon get a chance to enjoy your favorite tunes with Kia Soul. I’m sure this is great news for music lovers. Won’t you join us?
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October 9th, 2008 at 11:43 am
[...] Kia BUZZ Editor wrote an interesting post today onbFun/b lighting technology of SoulHere’s a quick excerptBy John Shim Research Development Planning Team Hello everyone. I’m John Shim of the RD Planning Team. This is my first posting on Kia Buzz. Kia unveiled the production version of Soul at the Paris Motor Show last week. b…/b [...]
October 9th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
John, an you contact me, I have a couple of questions
October 9th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
This is one great innovation for the soul. Its a great idea to have this and to think it is a factory option!!! :D . you guys rock!!
October 10th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Can’t wait to see this here in Malaysia!
October 11th, 2008 at 9:52 am
[...] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments [...]
October 12th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Soul is so cute!!
October 27th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
[...] Fun lighting technology of SoulBy John Shim Research & Development Planning Team Hello everyone. I’m John Shim of the R&D Planning Team. This is my first posting on Kia Buzz. Kia unveiled the production version of Soul at the Paris Motor Show last week. … [...]
October 27th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
[...] Fun lighting technology of SoulBy John Shim Research & Development Planning Team Hello everyone. I’m John Shim of the R&D Planning Team. This is my first posting on Kia Buzz. Kia unveiled the production version of Soul at the Paris Motor Show last week. … [...]
November 1st, 2008 at 3:41 pm
[...] Fun lighting technology of SoulBy John Shim Research & Development Planning Team Hello everyone. I’m John Shim of the R&D Planning Team. This is my first posting on Kia Buzz. Kia unveiled the production version of Soul at the Paris Motor Show last week. … [...]
November 25th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Is this the first application to the vehicle in the world? I wonder whether there are other cases in other vehicles(ex. ford, Toyota, and so forth) except Kia. In any case, this is so great technology!
February 9th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
[...] everyone. Remember when we showed you before how the Soul’s sound speaker lamps work? This time we would like to present to you a film that I took on how the Soul’s acclaimed [...]
March 2nd, 2009 at 9:00 pm
At the Paris Tuning Show ‘09 we showed a nice leather interior on this beautiful car with perforated leather that lights up on the rhythm, just like your speaker system. I can send a small movie to those that are interested.