The way we travel has changed considerably over the years. Technological advancements have given rise to buses, trains, airplanes, helicopters, jets, submarines and what not. And with technology still increasing rapidly to embrace newer approaches to traveling between places, it won’t be long before we start seeing some futuristic transportation predictions staring at us in the face. Here are some that have already started doing the rounds.
The Segway
Also dubbed as the Segway Human Transporter, this mode of transport was invented by Dean Kamen, a researcher and physicist who felt the need for a human transportation system that would take up less space than a car or bike. The Segway occupies the space of an upright human, with an inbuilt computer system keeping it balanced. It can move at about 12 miles per hour and it controlled via standard handlebars. Nice as it sounds, the Segway had little takers, especially in the urban areas.
The Aptera 2e
A plug in electric car that rides around on three wheels and can cozily accommodate two people, the Aptera 2e was introduced back in 2005 when electric vehicles were just coming into the limelight. Boasting of a sleek and glossy exterior look, the car came in a globular look in order to increase efficiency.
The transmission was also replaced for a dashboard control that let drivers choose between normal mode, improved mode and maximum efficiency mode while driving. The battery when fully charged could let the car run for almost 100 miles nonstop.
The Self-Drive Car
A recent projection indicates that by 2019, the earth would be introduced to the self-driving car, which would work with an inbuilt super complex system and technology to move around without the need of a driver. While services like GPS would help keep the car on the right course to the destination, cameras and sensors in and around the car would scan and detect obstacles.
This would send appropriate signals to the car’s electrical mechanism to avoid these obstacles while staying on the scheduled course. While some of the existing cars today have a few of these features (ex: GPS and parallel parking assist etc.), a fully functional driverless cat would take some time to be perfected.
Shweeb Monorail
A bicycle track with a unique twist to it, the Shweeb Monorail is a 19 feet high track where individuals can ride bicycles located inside clear pods to work or other places. The pods are operated by pedal and are extremely efficiency in carrying a person to the designated destination quickly and safely. The aerodynamic concept also entails a faster biker to push a slower biker from behind easily.
The pods do not have weight limits as well and can be used by individuals with special needs too.
Teleportation
Ever since the movie ‘The Fly’, the concept of teleportation has been actively discussed in many a scientific convention. Some physicists in China even came out with a photon teleporter in 2012 that was capable of transporting a photon over 60 kilometers. However, the photon that arrived at the destination turned out to be a mirror image of the original photon, meaning everything that is teleported would emerge as duplicate copies on the other end.
The other catch involves the teleporter could teleport the mirror image of the photon only if the original photon was destroyed. This would mean that if a human were to be teleported, his/her mirror image would only show up at the destination with the real copy aka the original human being destroyed in the process. Scary thought, that!
