As far as transportation goes , we ’ve got it moderately safe . We can get around the worldly concern middling apace , if we so choose ; our power to skip in a plane and vaporize across the ball certainly comes in handy for business tripper or quickie vacations . Or , we can utilize alternate strategies , as diary keeper Seth Stevenson did : for his Christian Bible " ground , " he choose to wind his way around the satellite without using air travel . Along the way , he muse about the ways that transportation has evolved , and how our change of location choices impact humanity . ( Heavy topic , but he had plenty of time – the trip took several month . )
Though Stevenson stayed somewhat traditional and old - schooling , that glide path , to many , seems outdated . We have to locomote , correct ? So it should always be improve as much as potential . quicker , more effective or more fun . Or perhaps , in really rarefied pillow slip , we can try something totally new .
Clearly , the concept of " futuristic modes of raptus " leaves a sight of elbow room for interpretation . The survey list cover quite a cooking stove . Some fell sadly short of their electric potential . Others , we ’re still hoping the promises will come to fruition .
( And if you ever end up on a trip , confined by some deathly dense manner of transport – covered wagon , perhaps ? – you ’d be lucky to have a copy of Stevenson ’s " ground " on - hand to go past the clip . )
10: The Segway
The name alone , Segway Human Transporter , implies this fomite was charge from the commencement by large expectations . " Human conveyer " but sounds too highfaluting for its own commodity . A snatch of background on its creator , notoriously quirky discoverer Dean Kamen , confirms this suspicion . He ’s a physicist and investigator who hold up more than 400 patents . ( Kamen is also known for grease one’s palms a modest island off the New England slide , create his own currency , and jest about seceding from the United States . )
The job is , buyers have n’t exactly come constellate to Kamen ’s room access . The Segway plainly is n’t well - suited to the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. - to - twenty-four hours needs of urban residents ( and it ’s an even harder sell for the rural lifestyle ) .
The Segway , it must be enjoin , is rather graceful in its campaign . It zip along at a maximal speed of about 12 miles per hour ( 19.3 kilometers per hr ) , taking up only slightly more way than an upright , walking human , and a complex computer system keep it ( and the rider ) balanced . A lot ofmicroprocessorscalculate the passenger ’s nub of gravity to ensure it stays upright , and the handlebar - base twist are easy and intuitive . That ’s how hapless George Oscar Bluth ( aka GOB ) was constantly performing splashy Segway waltzes .
Perhaps the job is this : It ’s not of necessity a good thing to move with so little effort . For all their computerized art , they still just look risky . It ’s the nemesis of many a lakefront visitor in downtown Chicago , where the tourism industriousness seems to depend on Segway rental gross ( and where it ’s just as easy to take the air or take mass fare ) .
So , where will the Segway ’s bequest lie ? It could n’t even offer enough joke for another time of year of " Arrested Development . " Maybe the Segway really is a genius equipment that simply has n’t found its time or place . But for now , it ’s most commonly used for urban law patrol , college campus surety and enable large mathematical group of clumsy holidaymaker to terrorize free pedestrians in the most scenic areas of our nation ’s great urban center .
9: The Prop-driven Car
peradventure it ’s not as versatile as theflying car , but it ’s way cool looking . It was considered " futuristic " in the 1920s because it accommodate the vibration of the time . aeroplane were revolutionize locomotion , so why not make a car that shared a little of the technology and a mickle of the style ?
The prop - driven motorcar was land - bound despite its aviation - inspired silhouette . The most popular and well - known propeller car , the Helica , was design by an existent airplane fashion designer – perhaps no surprise there . Another non - shocker ? This glamorous contraption was of Gallic extraction . Engineer Marcel Leyat made considerable progression over premature iteration – his prop - driven motorcar was designed from the background up ( most others just consisted of a motorcar with a propeller perplex to the front ) , an approach that allowed him to contain sleek styling and efficiency - improving techniques that contributed heavily to the car ’s future - forward-moving appeal .
It worked like this : The motorcar ’s motor bend the propeller and the propellor thrust the vehicle forwards . It lack a transmission to help oneself control power , steerage and even Pteridium aquilinum . Also prominently missing from most versions ? A way of life to protect walker , onlookers , and other devoid victims from the propeller ’s rapidly spinning blade . Again , a fomite that seemed destine for mass - mart success suffered an untimely demise .
Seems like one of the characteristics of futuristic vehicles is that people just do n’t give up on them , even though it ’s easy to see the unnumerable reasons why a mod version of this auto would n’t work . Half a hundred ( and more ) subsequently , though , hobbyists are still working on propeller cars to use as land speeders . There ’s a flush to it , they ’ve articulate . Find an capable , bland area and let it go – comparatively uncontrolled . There may not be any transit - falsify revolutions from these kinds of DIY service department projection … but the human desire to experience upper can not be deny .
8: The Aptera
The Aptera 2e is a three - wheeled wad - in galvanizing car , cozily built for two .
Or rather , it was .
Aptera Motors was establish in 2005 , when the Parousia of a dead on target mass - market galvanizing vehicle was a happy , optimism - make thought process … well before the industry start to see the situation in a more naturalistic light . So what made the Aptera dissimilar from its predecessors , or from its own kin , for that matter – other electrical machine like the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt , which are also not meeting sales expectation ?
Well , the looks , for one . silklike , calendered white and globular , like a car Apple might design , all in the name ofaerodynamics . ( That ’s why the car had three rack – tot a fourthly reduced efficiency by 34 - percent . ) The railway car ’s genuine car-mechanic were also considerably dissimilar ( whereas today ’s electric cars seek to make the driving experience as conventional as potential ) . To maximize efficiency , Aptera issue down on the typical drivetrain business leader loss by simply reduce down the drivetrain – there was no transmission . Instead , power output was selected via dashboard control , have the driver opt from maximum efficiency , normal driving , or improved speedup musical mode . All these design elements add up to Brobdingnagian energy savings – Aptera guaranteed a full stamp battery charge would be good to travel 100 knot ( 160.9 kilometers ) with two occupants and a dyad hundred pounds of lading . construct of a honeycomb - similar composite textile several times unattackable than steel , the car was designed to surmount federal clang standard , and complemented by sustainable , eco - well-disposed interior design . And , the Aptera Web site say , the cable car were design to be built in the United States , with over 90 - percentage of its materials sourced from American provider .
A 2009 " Wired " article said Aptera 2es would start being delivered by the end of that twelvemonth , at a sticker Mary Leontyne Price between between $ 25,000 and $ 40,000 – but it did n’t happen . Even though Aptera had a wait listing of eager customers , the company said in 2011 that investor funds had dried up and they could n’t keep the doors open any longer . And that ’s it , apparently – they were done . After the company ’s closure strike the news in a rather controversial fashion ( online videos show Aptera employees dash prototypes , raising the Internet - based ire of expectant owners who thought the display was disrespectful ) , a longtime extremity of an Aptera online forum tell ABC News that one thousand of people had grade repository on the car .
The Aptera Web land site is still up , have a screed to sustainability and betraying no planetary house of its failures . But all the optimism in the humankind just could n’t get the job done to their standards . Now they have one more chance – a buyout from Taiwanese automaker Jonway Group in outflow of 2012 . Aesthetics aside , galvanizing cars may no longer be seen as " futurist , " but they still have potential .
7: The People Mover
A people mover is traditionally defined as a light rail arrangement , usually elevated , almost always automated . ( In some area , it ’s become a generic term for a lot of different type of commuter rail personal credit line . ) They were designed to suit place where a more complicated rail ancestry might be overkill . fundamentally , it ’s a monorail , a friendly alternative to faster , more complex , more useful subways and elevated rail lines . It seems cleaner and , frankly , glad , than descending a staircase to a moody , fetid hugger-mugger underpass platform .
loosely , people mover systems work well over circumscribed areas , like the lowly , driverless drome tram that shuttle passengers between terminal . They also work well if they ’re intend to conduct a horse sense of nostalgia , like at Walt Disney World . They are n’t always in particular private-enterprise when they ’re meant to affix , or compete with , other forms of urban pot transit , like subway system or charabanc . Just ask the metropolis of Detroit , where the Detroit People Mover do an under - populated business district area , circle around 3 miles ( 4.8 klick ) of tourist attractions and commercial-grade districts , with cost far outweigh collected fares . In this struggling metropolis , taxpayers lay waste to a few buck for each naut mi ridden by a passenger . And study show that most passenger are tourists in the urban center , so the people mover is n’t even moving the people who actually live there .
Not trying to bash Detroit , here – after all , any poorly project transportation system system is likely to fail , and even the well - designed and popular ones are n’t often revenue generators . Miami ’s Metromover People Mover , which link up fussy parts of the city , is a good good example of how the system can bring home the bacon . The citizenry mover concept just go to show how a mode of transportation might seem reasonably promising and look really nerveless , but that does n’t ensure success .
6: The Submarine
If we ever see a personal - sized submarine sandwich scene for human travel , we can give thanks military researchers and developers around the populace . minuscule submarines were first engineered for research and warfare , and , truth be severalise , they did n’t bind up very well . A 1775 version known as the American Turtle postulate the wheeler dealer to point by hand , while also using hand churl to actuate the watercraft along . It was slow , tiresome work . Despite the cute ( and appropriate ) name , and a design that seemed designate forsteampunkfame , the American Turtle was retire rather quickly .
But using one of the advanced versions useable would still be fun , though they ’re generally marketed as playthings for the very rich ( the late adventurer Steve Fossett and his brother Richard Branson are know partisan ) . To be fairish , a personal submarine ( or even a larger submarine ) might not service much of a practical purpose . Today ’s submarine sandwich , like those of yesteryear , are mainly used for military and research sector ; quondam models sometimes fall into the hands of drug dealers to be modified for stealth transport . For conveyance , realistically , it would be less useful than a gravy holder . It would probably be slow , it would definitely be a luck more expensive and its recreational bonuses have less mainstream appealingness . ( There ’d be killer underwater panoramas , for sure , but no sunbathing , waterskiing or fishing . ) hoi polloi who subsist in some areas do have commute over significant span of water , like bays , rivers and lakes , but there have been no known cause to bring diminished submarines away as an alternative to bridges and ferries . As expert signal out , though , when military technology gets retired to the civilian sphere , we often terminate up with things we never knew we ask that can do thing we never anticipated .
5: The Self-driving Car
Every few years , we ’re promised the impending arriver of ego - driving cars . Finally , estimates are get a minute more conservative ( which implies they ’re more realistic ) . The modish projection ? The year 2019 .
They ’ve been try out for age , by engineers and developers , traditional automakers and even Google . ego - driving cars will work based on top-notch - complex systems that are comprise of technology that , for the most part , we already have . GPS , for lesson , will keep the automobile on course . television camera around the perimeter of the car will constantly scan for obstacles , and they ’ll be link to sensors that supervise other road conditions . This web will provide feedback to the car ’s figurer and electrical arrangement , so the car can continue on its scheduled track of traveling while maintain a safety equipment shock from everything else on the road . Most new cars already boast some of these benefit , in characteristic like bumper - mounted reverse camera , parallel parking help and traffic jam assist . They ’re intend to improve prophylactic , of course , but have the side effect of reducing the driver ’s pauperism to concentrate , yield aid and oppose quickly . The ultimate achievement ? Experts say the target is to get drivers in a fully automated gondola that will never dash , possibly by the year 2025 .
There are other logical implication to be considered , too . Once most cars are ego - drive , what will be the joy of elevator car possession ? Of naturally , a slew of the great unwashed will fence that there is no pleasure , especially in commuting . The car is just a way to get from one blank space to another , not an achievement in itself . So , hunky-dory . Hit a push that will tell the machine to manoeuvre to workplace , sit back and enjoy your coffee along with the morning ’s tidings streamed to the in - dash console . Might as well be on a double-decker . But at least the working day can be embark on a bit before .
But what about the thrill of lacing up your take shoe and crank the ignition of a Karmann Ghia or a vintage Porsche , or claim a scenic cruise in driblet - top American muscularity , or hearing an alien sport car zipping by ? What about driving for pleasure without a goal in intellect ? ( " Sorry kids , we ca n’t give up for ice cream – the car said so ! " ) It ’s reasonable to assume that at some item , the motorcar manufacture will become entirely homogenous , and ego - driving cars might speed up that disintegration of culture .
It ’ll take a long time before driverless cars are really good and more efficient than the traditional prostrate - to - human - error variety – we necessitate to know computers are up to the challenge , costs demand to come way down , and we have to redesign road and save new laws . So far , there ’s no timetable for spiritual rebirth that indicates that we will be forced to abandon our current cars and leap on the computer - push bandwagon .
4: The Shweeb Monorail
We ’ve see our clean portion of noble-minded - track tape transport systems , but the Shweeb is a little bit different . It ’s like abicycletrack , except it ’s built 19 feet ( 5.8 meters ) above reason point where it barely bear on subsist route use . And the bicycles are decumbent , built inside clear pods , adding an element of comfort . The founder , Geoff Barnett , got the theme while travel in Tokyo , where , he says , everyone rides bikes and almost everything is encapsulated .
Shweeb plume itself on its efficiency – though the pods are pedal - operated by the user , they go a hatful faster than walking , using a lot less human effort than walk . ( Even though Shweeb touts the aerophilous benefits , they bespeak out that the endeavour needed to pedal is minimum , so user should be able-bodied to maintain a well-to-do physical structure temperature while travel better speeds and distances . ) Shweeb says that upper achieved on its curved paradigm racecourse signal that on a long straightaway , the pods are capable of being pedaled quicker than an Olympian cyclist . They ’re extremely aerodynamic and have low trilled impedance , so that a faster rider will be able to push a slower rider from behind with minimum supererogatory drive . Shweeb also claims that most disabled riders will be able-bodied to practice the pods , and there are no weight limits , so the fuel pod should be prosperous for everyone . There ’s also the vigor broker . The Shweeb rails are powered to enable sensing element and safety systems , but the pods themselves move under human power . Shweeb says the organization is zero emission – more vigour efficient than other way of peck transit .
Once the system are installed and achieve far-flung role , Shweeb expect them to treat a eminent capacity of users . There ’s no buffer distance ask between pods , and users can exit the cartroad at station without raise up other pod , so in possibility , the telephone line can be totally full without strike the stop number of travel . Shweeb seedpod require no guidance or mechanical input other than pedaling , so busy commuters would be glad . The pod are cushioned from encroachment , so they ’re safe ( a buffer convert an impact from behind into advancing motion ) . The seedpod ’s wheels are enclosed within the track , so Shweeb claim a derailment incident is simply impossible . And a serial of computer sensors and human staff will always be watching to insure there are no emergencies within single fuel pod . And the seedcase themselves leave 360 - degree view from above – definitely a different perspective on the morning commute .
For now , Shweeb ’s prototype system , installed in a New Zealand entertainment park , is accessible to the public … but its capableness are being tested by recreation - seekers who rush the pod against each other . In 2010 , Google invested a million buck , hop to make the system more far-flung by 2012 for urban commuting , incarnate and college campuses and possibly even tourist attractions in scenic area . It has n’t hap yet , but the Shweeb Monorail still shew promise for a sport and engaging transit system .
3: The Jetpack
Here ’s to all the kids who dreamed of vanish .
And here ’s how it might materialise . The U.S. Army began toy withjetpacksin the forties , and lease Bell Aerosystems in the 1960s to push along progress . The results were dissatisfactory , though : Although Bell had made a mountain of progress , they only could not predict the fast , nimble , safe and space - capable machines the military envisioned . After that , large - scale jetpack maturation basically ground to a freeze . But a handful of hobbyists and investors go for on to the dream , even if seems perpetually stuck in pre - launch mode .
Okay , technically , a jetpack can already get you off the primer , under the correct circumstances . But today ’s jetpacks ca n’t patronage a person in flying for more than a few seconds ( and if you weigh more than 175 lbf. ( 79.4 kilo ) , you ’re out of luck ) . A handful of companies have worked on jetpacks , and have reach standardised result , but New Zealand - based Martin Aircraft seems to be the most potential to achieve commercial success . Martin was formed in 2004 , specifically to complete and market an survive jetpack prototype .
Martin describe their jetpack as both " air travel " and a " unpaid vehicle . " Two concepts at odds with each other ? Well , perhaps . After all , a Fortune 500 chief executive officer commuting by private helicopter fulfills both standard . However , they also think it ’s " hardheaded , " and that ’s a bit harder to swallow . Practical for whom or what , exactly ( at a visualize price of $ 100,000 ) ? Millionaires ? Billionaires ? The environment ? But , more authoritative , for every kid who fantasized of own a jetpack one day ( whether inspired by funny record book , picture games or LEGO sets ) does practicality constituent in at all ?
No care – gas - operate mass - marketplace jetpack use will be safe and easy , concord to Martin , with automatise hover , stability in " fairish atmospheric condition , " and aparachute . pilot light will be trained by simulator , and , once in flight , will be patronize by automatize and computerized controls that will watch and maintain a safe acme . Martin also anticipates that pilots will undergo some kind of licensing requirement .
Martin hopes to complete a flight by the oddment of 2012 , get down delivering to corporate and government customer in 2013 , and get jetpacks on the rear of individual citizens in 2014 . They ’re currently restricted from use in populated areas , which , for now , is just another barrier on the path to commuter use . Despite claims of growing interest group by factual groups who will in reality use these ( like political science defense platform , law of nature enforcement teams , and deliverance services ) , it seems like Martin ’s mostly make them because they can . Which is fine , of course . Jetpacks exist , and we ’ve achieved a flying - of - fancy milepost . Maybe someday you ’ll in reality get to touch one .
2: The Flying Car
peradventure we should be surprised that the jetpack has plainly beat theflying car . It seems like flying cars have been promised much longer . We have cable car and we have airplanes , so making a mash - up should n’t have taken this long .
So what is the welfare of a take flight car , and how would it disagree from , say , a helicopter ? And why do n’t we see lot of fly cars ?
Foremost , the hybrid approach ( land plus air ) is more hardheaded ( in comparative terms ) than a undivided - purpose vehicle . But allow ’s clarify that by say , if you ’re stuck in a dealings jam , it would be more hard-nosed for you to press a button that appropriate your car to bourgeon wing and whip your family off the footing , than it would be for you to own a eggbeater or pocket-size plane . So , in other words , it ’s not very hardheaded at all . ( Still in doubt ? Just suppose of how many people can barely beat back safely down a straight road . )
But that has n’t stopped people from try out . There are about 80 patent of invention on file for flying gondola technology in the United States and a handful of prototypes have in reality attain strain .
The first experiment took place in 1917 , and since then , there ’s usually been a project or two afoot . Most inventor attach wings and propellers to a car and crossed their fingers ; a few others tried to make little aircraft road - worthy ( one of which could be converted in just about five minute – take that , Transformers ! ) but all suffered from standardised trouble . They ’re too heavy , too expensive , unconvincing to ever fulfil rubber standards and just too heavy to imagine ever really forge .
But of all the flying cable car made , the Aerocar follow closest to succeeder . It could cruise above ground at 120 miles per time of day ( 193.1 kilometers per hour ) . It also achieved FAA blessing as a flight - suitable fomite ( one of only two fly cars to accomplish this feat ) . Ford was close to putting the Aerocar into product , but the oil crisis of the 1970s dashed those dreams .
It ’s concentrated to believe that it ’ll ever be price - efficient compared to other passage pick . A aggregated - grocery store vanish car will be about $ 300,000 and will consume a circumstances of fuel . Tired of paying fuel surcharges when book a plane slate ? It takes a lot more energy to achieve that height and abide aloft !
Still pensive ? ( You must really detest traffic jams . )
1: Teleportation
If we had the power to vanish in one office and re-emerge somewhere else , this entire lean would be for naught . surely , there would be practical limitations ( by comparing , a jetpack would in all probability seem toll efficient ) but just reckon what could be done .
Now , reel your imaging back in just a bit , and think about fantasy and science fabrication . Even Harry Potter and his friends usually prefer more traditional methods of travel , because teleporting took a little chip of effort . A wizard call for a specially equipped fireplace and wizardly gunpowder to teleport via auto . object could be bewitched to serve well as a temporaryteleportationdevice , but it required a pot of forward motion provision for just one trip . And only license adults were allowed to just disappear and reappear in a different place ( which they called apparition ) . Did you ever wonder why , despiteflying carsand flying brooms and fly dragons and apparition , the child still pass a full solar day on a wagon train to get to school day ?
So , strangely , the fantasy public does illustrate some of the hard-nosed problems . In the actual world , though , science receive involved , and science has even more restrictive genuine - world limits . A squad of Taiwanese physicists made the newsworthiness in spring of 2012 for a huge advancement in teleportation technology . And the accomplishment ? Transporting a photon ( a speck of light ) 60 miles ( 96.6 klick ) . The previous disc for photon teleportation , rig in 2010 , was 10 mile ( 16.1 kilometers ) .
The photon teleporter mold by harnessing the vigour of a optical maser beam to get from detail A to point B. But , here ’s the key : The photon is duplicate at gunpoint A , and it ’s a mirror persona of the photon , not the actual original photon , receive at point B. It was discovered in 1993 by a squad of IBM researchers that it was only possible to transmit a extra of an objective if the original object was destroyed , which obviously defecate it unethical to search on anything awake . To replicate this power on a human subject , the brave soul would be analyzed by the teleporter at the point of departure . They ’d be scanned , and every individual atom of the someone would be sent at the stop number of spark to another simple machine at the period of reaching . If anything went incorrect , anything at all , there ’d be life-threatening consequences for the traveller . After all , they ’d be bewilder with their young , reassembled soma – the original would be gone for honest .
In shortsighted , these scientist are babble about using this gimmick to quickly and securely transmit cod , classified data for government operations . We can duplicate photon that turn back coded data , but we ca n’t accomplish that effort with anything strong . We ’re nowhere near the technology necessary to teleport humans . We are n’t even near to teleport a Wonka bar .
In other words , pop out saving up for your jetpack … or just bask your six - speed sports car while you still can .
Lots More Information
After a few class as a freelance auto journalist , I became a fiddling untrusting of " futurist " promise and predictions ( and based on the blogs and glossy ' output , not much has improve . ) . Everything was revolutionary . It was leisurely to recede position .
My initial inquiry yielded a reserve of photos of monorail - esque pattern , and I had another flashback : A post - college trip to Walt Disney World with an old friend . ( intelligibly , this was before I suffered the aforementioned disenchantment . ) And that was when I discovered the glory of the PeopleMover . There was no line , so we amble aboard and rested while we drink coffee berry and enjoyed the green scenery .
At least I can look at the PeopleMover and be happy I ’ve set out Chicago ’s El tracks rather . Now if only I could commute to work on something like the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad . Get on that , Disney .
