Otis
The OTIS Infinity envisions the future of vertical mobility for the next 100 years. The OTIS Elevator Concept imagines the elevator as an extension of personal space—comforting, intuitive, and responsive. Drawing from automotive interiors and human-centered research, the project challenges the cold, utilitarian experience of conventional cabins. Through trend analysis and deep user interviews, the design repositions the elevator as a seamless, emotional journey rather than a mechanical transition between floors.
Project With
Date
2022-2023
Members
Wen KunYuan (Lead)
Silvio Consentino (Director)
Ken Chen (Manger)
Cammy Zheng (Designer)
Aton Xu (Designer)
Responsibilities
Industrial Designer
Lead Exterior Designer (Selected Concept)
Product Engineering Assistance
Experience Designer
User Researcher
All Images and Videos © kunyuanwen
Otis Infinity
Otis, founded by Elisha Otis, the inventor of the first safety elevator in 1857, has long been a pioneer and global leader in vertical transportation. The Infinity project, developed in collaboration with the OTIS Future Innovation Lab, envisions the future of elevators over the next 30, 50, and even 100 years. Through this partnership, we re-examined the elevator’s role across commercial, public, and residential environments, focusing on redefining the user experience within mid- to high-rise spaces. Our goal is to move beyond the traditional utilitarian cabin and reimagine the elevator as an intelligent, integrated environment that enhances human experience.
I. Quick Statistics
Before we began our research, we investigated the market position of Otis. We want to understand the market and user segmentation, including its brand appeal / feedback to accurate pinpoint the direction for the next gen elevator.
18%
Global market share.
#1 largest global elevator
#Burj Khalifa, Tapei 101 etc...
22%
Developing market share in the high-rise elevator in Greater Mainland China.
2.4M Units
Flagship model includes Gen 3, SkyRise, HyodroFit etc.
2.4M Unit in service.
High demand orders for Intelligent high-rise elevators.
Highrise Elevator is a growing market demand for hotel, scrapper, luxury apartments. The current market for high-rise elevator account for roughly 5%. This figure is estimated to raise to 8% by 2026. Increasing demands are being placed on high-rise elevator. OTIS’s current product line lean towards mid-rise (Gen 2) with individual customized High-Rise design.
What this project is about:
To define and develop an innovative high-rise elevator for the Luxury and Premium segment of demand.
Context
II. The Challenge
What is the challenge for Otis?
While the IOT of space has expanded explosively, with image recognition sensors, auditory and haptic feedback, the industry of elevator has remained the same. Placing all the current competitors side by side in the high-end, high-rise market, the techpack, configuration, components even the interior designs are identitical. The problem arise in the need for diversifcation in both the intelligent hardware space, and in the interior visual space.
Otis currently offers four major passenger and freight elevator families:
Gen3 Family – Designed for low- to mid-rise buildings, featuring a connected platform and smooth, quiet rides.
Gen2 Family – Targeted toward residential and mid-rise buildings.
SkyRise – Built for high-rise applications, delivering high-speed performance.
Otis ONE – A digital platform enabling remote monitoring and predictive maintenance.
Our newest concept, Otis Infinity, focuses on interconnected and intelligent mobility solutions.
This new product line aims to position Otis at the forefront of innovation and smart transportation, addressing the growing demand for advanced mobility in mid-to high-rise buildings.
III. Understanding our user's painpoint
We began to ask the question “But elevator is much more than just a cabin...” What can we do to improve the cohesive user experience aspect of the entire journey from entering, riding to exiting? We started our research phase with observation, and to do this we visited more than 10 public residential, and commercial elevators to visualize what we can do to improve this system.
Painpoint Analysis
From our Observation & Interview result, we discovered these common trend mentioned by users. Some of the interesting insight we discoverd includes the lack of “navigational info directory” inside the elevator, and small feedbacks that would create significant changes such as having “passenger sensor” that displays how many people are inside. Users revealed a common trend in the lack of informative displays.
User Journey Mapping
From our Observation & Interview result, we discovered these common trend mentioned by users. Some of the interesting insight we discoverd includes the lack of “navigational info directory” inside the elevator, and small feedbacks that would create significant changes such as having “passenger sensor” that displays how many people are inside. Users revealed a common trend in the lack of informative displays.
Satisfaction Points:
Floor selection menu’s have greatly improved. Both Digital and Physical buttons.
Intuitive and easy to operate.
Pain Points:
Elevator navigation sign is not clear. Don’t know if the elevator is up or down.
Anxious being in confined space.Felt stuck in a “moving-cage”.
Wayfinding is difficult inside the elevator. Especially inside mall or residential.
Not enough protocol when stuck inside the elevator
Summarizing Opportunities:
A.I Integrated Sensors
Envision a future when I simply walk up to a building, it recognize who I am from biometrics, It knows that I work on the 30th floor.
Director
Wayfinder Navigation
Floor mapping are difficult to read. I wish the elevator knows where I am going and guide me to the direction.
Mall Users
Cozy Interior
Elevator feels like a moving cage surrounded by metal sheet panels. I wish the interior feels like the cozy interior of an car.
Resident
IV. Concept
Different user groups shared various ideas for the next-generation elevator. We decided to focus on the most immediate and impactful area: navigation. Our goal is to help users move more easily, both before entering and inside the elevator. Outside, users can see useful information such as how crowded it is, which direction it’s going, and when it will arrive. Inside, clear guidance helps direct passengers to their destinations. These features are supported by biometric and infrared sensors that can detect users and send the elevator automatically—often before they even press a button.
Concept 1
A.I Integrated Sensors
User’s point of view
Floor mapping are difficult to read. I wish the elevator knows where I am going and guide me to the direction.
Solution Concept
User simply walk up to the elevator, or use hand gesture to indicate elevator direction.
Concept 2
Wayfinder
Navigation
User’s point of view
How long does it take for elevator to come? how much people are inside? Why are these essential information not displayed?
Solution Concept
We integrated an responsive navigation bar that foster in-time communication with user. Light-bar also synchornize with elevator direction.
Concept 3
Interior Head Up Display
User’s point of view
User often complain that they get lost where to go after heading out of elevator.
Solution Concept
We designed an interative head-up-display that communicate essential destination information to the user.
Concept 4
Responsive
Interior
User’s point of view
Given the trend in electric automobile, we want to take some interior concept and design into the cabin interior.
Solution Concept
Integrated soft cushioned panels, homely interior, responsive design creates another level of comfort to the elevator interior.
UX Concept & Strategy
Design featuring innovative concepts such as motion gestures, heads-up displays, and automotive interior. This concept challenges conventional interaction. Rather than responding to the request, it communicates with users through sensors. We conceptualized the possibility of the gesture-controlled elevator that offers a new solution to special needs users like wheelchairs and children.
UX concept & Strategy
Re-designing elevator experience by connecting the distinctive phases of entering, riding and exiting in one immersive experience
V. Visualization
Our final concept is visualized through quick modeling and photoshopping. We created an immersive collage to imagine what the next-generation OTIS elevator could look like. This collage approach allows us to convey the overall vision and atmosphere without needing to fully model the entire elevator.
I. Waiting for the Elevator
II. User Engages in the elevator. User can wave their hand “up” or “down” in front of the elevator to signal it to come
III. Elevator Interior is inspired by automatives. We imagined using homely interior such as wood and leather to create a sense of welcoming
IV. Headup Display that responds to the user’s question, clearly shows the direction of where users should be after getting out of the elevator
V. Lower-reach buttons to ensure disability friendly and encompass all kind of users using the elevator.
Developing Concepts
In the end, we prototyped more than 12 different designs then narrowed down to 3 that we really liked. We developed each of these design and here are some of the different themes that we explored.
Initial Proposal: Focuses on the “Intelligent Mobility” of the future. Accessible designs that maximize interactive experiences.
VI. Final Proposal
This concept focuses on simplicity and a more comfortable user experience, allowing passengers to naturally lean or rest against the sidewalls. The elevator is intelligent, using sensors to detect users 10–15 seconds before they approach and automatically dispatching a car to reduce wait time. In addition, wayfinding navigation inside and outside the elevator provides real-time feedback and seamless communication, guiding users smoothly from entry to destination.
Final surface model built in Rhino and imported into Solidworks to remade the interior structure. We worked with automotive interior CMF design to ideate the use of Alcantaratm, which is an type of automotive interior, with Red Oak as our primary wood choice.
VII. 1:1 Scale Prototype
From the final 3D design, we modeled the 2.15 * 2.5 * 5.0m2 cubic square elevator with mockup displays and sensors. The purpose of low fidelity prototype is to test the ergonomic and is aligned with how we visioned it to be used. This allows us to understand spatial awareness between human + object + environment.
Virtual Reality Simulation
Our last part of visualization includes an complete immersive space in virtual reality. The model is imported into VRred and connected with HTC Vive through the VR simulation. We want to represent the space as accurately as possible, which allows our users to interact using hand gestures and voice command controls.
