by AnneFleming
23. May 2011 07:02
We’ve seen the innovation of road travel progress at turbo speed, begging the question; what’s next? While we are not flying our cars in the sky, we are a far way from Wilma and Fred’s idea of transportation.
It’s fascinating to consider what technology will be the norm in coming decades, and that accidents might be reduced to –perhaps a thing of the past? Ford and Microsoft; General Motors and OnStar. What new transformative partnerships will be in store in the auto industry?
Here are examples of what’s ahead for the next generation:
Smarter, Greener and Safer
• Robocars (or cybercars) are coming, and many of the technologies are already used in cars and prototypes. Self-driving cars developed by search engine giant Google have already clocked up to thousands of miles driving autonomously
• Fully electric cars and vehicles that run on air
• Amphibious vehicles for both land and water
• Windshields that double as a touch-screen computer monitor for enhanced perception
• Numerous cameras to provide real-time video of the surroundings
• Infra-red visibility to drive in total darkness
• Stronger yet lighter materials instead of steel such as titanium and carbon fibres. Better yet, there is already a prototype for an outer knitted skin of flexible, stretch material made of tough industrial fabric. Water repellent and resistant to high or low temperatures, it is stretched across the aluminum frame with moveable parts to morph into different shapes to suit your mood
• Vehicle-vehicle communication, along with talking to the surrounding street lights and signage
• Warning devices and automatic braking to avoid collisions
• Retinal detector to alert the car if you’re drowsy
Future cars will not only be smarter, but a lot of fun to drive. While the price of gas may have some faltering on a summer vacation, over the long haul the future for the automobile industry looks bright indeed.
