Piaggio Fast Forward (PFF), a Boston-based company founded and controlled by the Piaggio Group operating as an advanced research centre for future mobility solutions, announced that John Hoke, Vice President Global Design at Nike Inc., had joined its Advisory Board.
Established in 2015, PFF is a division of the Piaggio Group, the largest European manufacturer of two-wheel motor vehicles and one of the world leaders in its sector.
Piaggio Fast Forward focuses its attention on key issues such as the future of mobility, smart urban transportation, near-distance goods delivery, the navigation of indoor and outdoor environments, networked devices for mobility enhancement, sports, leisure and recreation.
The company is based in Boston, Massachusetts, in close proximity to some of the world’s leading research universities such as MIT and Harvard, as well as to one of the world’s most vibrant start-up communities. Led by a team of innovators drawn from robotic engineering, design and anthropology, Piaggio Fast Forward has the objective to study and develop innovative solutions for mobility, in order to anticipate and fulfil new behaviours and new needs around the world.
"We at PFF think that autonomy and tethering will be the drivers that will move people and goods, in the future," said Piaggio Fast Forward Chairman Michele Colaninno. "We will soon show something that goes in that direction, both for business and consumer markets."
John Hoke commented that he was "excited to engage in a forward-looking, problem-solving and innovative global brand that has a remarkable history of inspiring and energising human mobility."
Mr Hoke, who is responsible for the design of Nike products around the globe, is considered one of the most innovative minds in the field of design applied to technology. He joins an advisory board composed of primary excellences in the world of technology and robotics, like Nicholas Negroponte (co-founder of MIT Media Lab, professor of Media Technology at MIT), Jeff Linnell (founder of Bot & Dolly), and Doug Brent (CTO at Innovation di Trimble).
The board will work together with the rest of PFF’s talents, led by Professor Jeffrey Schnapp (CEO of PFF) and architect Greg Lynn (Chief Creative Officer at PFF).