Johnson Controls, based in Milwaukee, is one of the largest suppliers of parts for auto interiors. It uses its video research to develop interior features that it hopes to sell to automakers for future models. People forget the cameras. You see kids picking their noses, slapping each other. You see people eating.
Video ethnography is one term for the process.
Observational research is another. The videos form a cross-referenced database that designers and planners can use to look up specific activities. Fluharty and his associates may have a lot to do with the way your car will look someday. As automakers increasingly put together vehicles from modules of preassembled parts, Johnson Controls has a larger role in shaping interiors. The company delivers complete seats, dashboards and even entire doors to factories for DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors and other manufacturers.