Transportation – Lifeboat News: The Blog

Nov 17
2015

Airbus Envisions Transparent Airplane Cabin Walls in Future

Transparent walls and customized cabins may be ahead, according to Airbus.

If you think in-flight Wi-Fi and lie-flat seats are cutting edge, just wait until 2050. That’s when aircraft cabins will feature holographic pop-up gaming displays and seats that adjust to each passenger’s size and shape, according to Airbus. In its vision for the future, Airbus predicts that the cabin walls of planes will be transparent, providing amazing views of the earth. Those with vertigo could block the view with an opaque hologram around their seat. Themed zones will replace first, business and economy classes, so individuals could choose areas in which to relax, play games, interact with other passengers or hold business meetings with people on the ground. This could even top the flying car.

Nov 17
2015

The beauty of bikes — redesigning two wheels — By Rowan Moore | The Guardian

“For bicycles are messengers. Picasso recognised that they carry meaning when he made a saddle and handlebars into a bull’s head, and Duchamp (in his case, non-meaning) when he put a bicycle wheel in an art gallery.”

Nov 16
2015

These wheels can take you in any direction without turning

Ugh, this is just typical. You think you know the way the world works: wind blows, fire burns, wheels spin and – wait, what’s this thing doing?

What? You mean, it can actually move in any direction without so much as turning on an axis? That’s blowing my mind. I’m no gear head, but I’m sort of attached to having a steering wheel in my car, you know? Now you’re saying that self-driving cars will take those away, and now there won’t even be wheels to turn in the direction you want to go in?

Nov 16
2015

Self-driving cars may become a mass reality faster than you think

“Just a few years ago, automated parking was a revolutionary new technology — now it comes as a standard option in some production models. This is how I believe driverless vehicles will come to be accepted in the future,” says Wei-Bin Zhang, IEEE fellow and a researcher engineer at the California PATH program, Institute of Transportation Studies of University of California at Berkeley.

That’s right — we may be on the brink of an all-out self-driving car revolution.

We’ve already seen cars that can stay in their lanes and apply the breaks by themselves, so to many, an autonomous car is just the next step in the natural progression. And the automotive industry is taking this very seriously. According to a study by Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), the self-driving market is estimated to grow to $33.89 billion in the next five years.

Nov 15
2015

Tesla Now Faces a Billionaire-Backed Competitor Staffed by Its Former Engineers

Many people thought this might be the Apple Car.

Nov 14
2015

Self-parallel parking car

Mitsubishi Self-Driving Car

This new Mitsubishi self-driving car is so advanced it can parallel park itself.

Nov 14
2015

Nissan wants to bring wireless charging technology to electric cars

Electric car owners get to enjoy a certain level of pride in saying that they never have to deal with gas stations and dirty fuel-filler nozzles.

Most of those owners would likely agree that not having to deal with cords and charging ports would be another great step forward, however.

Soon, if Nissan and several other automakers have their way, that day will come, as wireless (inductive) charging systems and smart charging controls will take away that “hands on” obligation—provided you park in designated charging spots.

Nov 13
2015

If Batman Owned A Private Jet, It’d Be The $700,000 Valkyrie

If the Spitfire is the classic car of a private plane collection then this Valkyrie is an Aston Martin. James Bond’s Aston Martin to be precise.

It’s the stunning new plane from Cobalt Aircraft and not only has the accolade of being of the most beautiful planes we’ve ever seen but being the fastest private plane in its category.

Nov 13
2015

Cop pulls over Google self-driving car, finds no driver to ticket

No driver? No ticket.

That, at least, was the result when a police officer pulled over one of Google’s self-driving cars Thursday in Mountain View, California.

Nov 12
2015

A five-story vending machine for cars just opened in Nashville

Buying a car is a hellish process. The reward for spending hours researching the right one is a trip to a local dealership — an experience that assaults the nerves in such a way that it’s only rivaled by appointments with the dentist. But what if buying a car was easier than that? What if it was as easy as, say, a vending machine?

A few years ago, a company called Carvana followed in the footsteps of companies like CarMax by trying to move the car buying experience completely online. The process of purchasing a car on Carvana’s website includes all the steps that normally take place at a dealership: getting approved for and selecting financing, selecting a warranty, and signing the contract. It’s a process that, in an interview with The Verge, Carvana CEO Ernie Garcia is quick to point out takes many Carvana customers 20 minutes or less.

This left customers with just one dealership interaction: choosing pickup or delivery. And Garcia says that, more often than not, Carvana customers were choosing pickup — so much so that a subsequent pickup store in Atlanta was a rousing success. Now, though, Carvana is adding some spice to that experience.