KIJIO
In development · twelve years of work
For more than twelve years, I have used KIJIO as the name for a growing body of work around movement, comfort, manufacturing and the products people form emotional relationships with.
It began with micromobility and now extends into vehicles, deployable infrastructure, manufacturing systems and product culture.
Mobility
I began communicating with Chinese manufacturers around a micromobility product in 2014, and a working prototype was developed before hoverboards became widely mainstream. Those early conversations, carried on through translation tools at first, grew into long term manufacturing relationships and real friendships.
The current mobility work is an ultra compact, fully electric vehicle, designed internally and now in development.
Travel adapter for the product line. AI assisted concept render, 2026; shown as a render, not a photograph.
Units
Alongside vehicles, KIJIO is developing a retrofitted shipping container platform that can be deployed as a residence, a small production environment, an energy site, agricultural support, or compact data infrastructure. One physical structure, adapted to different local needs.
Exploratory deployment discussions in Barbados progressed to an invitation to travel with the engineering team. The opportunity was paused while I prioritised academic development.
The deployable unit: one structure, many uses.
Manufacturing
From 12 to 23 August 2026, I am travelling through the Pearl River Delta to meet more than twenty factories and companies, including several existing manufacturing contacts. The purpose is fieldwork: inspecting products, meeting the people who make them, and continuing relationships that began over a decade ago.
KIJIO is incorporated as a Delaware corporation and trademarked. Nothing here is presented as an outcome of meetings that have not yet happened.
Twelve years of one question, from a Reading market stall to the Pearl River Delta.
Reflection
What I have learned from twelve years of picking this up again and again is that the product matters less than the relationships and the taste. The venture's best output so far is the judgement it built.
bennett harris
Systems Artist
Working across objects, infrastructure and machine intelligence.