Today, when we think of a cars, we think of just that – four wheels, a steering wheel, seats – the usual apparatus that we can drive from Place A to Place B. However, there are some that would sneer at our “basic” definitions of what a car can be. One of those people is be inventor Tomasso Gecchelin. No, he’s not super famous – yet. If his self-driving car concept does come into fruition, though, he might soon be the subject of a modern Google Doodle.
Self-driving car you wonder? Well, here we describe how this “future of public transportation” is said to work:
Gecchelin calls his concept “Next”, and describes it as a futuristic cross between Uber and the city bus. Though Next doesn’t look like a car, it certainly does have the essence of one. Next consists of individual “pods”, that can link up to other pods along the route of your commute. Next will be created in this method that individuals may transfer in one pod to a different while they’re in-motion, after which the string of models begins to split up as personal pods fling people toward their ultimate location. In Gecchelin’s mind, the future of transportation could be the pod. According to Gecchelin, the blueprints and engineering can be built with what is currently available off the shelf. While he won’t disclose names, Gecchelin states that Next is in talks with a “major German player” for the hardware portion of Next. He hopes that Next will be up and running by 2020!
If Next indeed comes into existence, it will definitely have an impact on public as well as private transportation. Will Next replace the cars we use in daily life? RightTurn blogger Jake Schaale doesn’t think so: “If these autonomous pods one day substitute city busses, I’m good with that. But so far as I’m worried, these Won’t substitute my car. There’s an inherently psychological element to driving. Experiencing the huge device push forward and slim from sideways in reaction to your immediate feedback is definitely an overall excitement, and I’m not going to provide that up to sanitized, safe-but snooze-worthy glass pod that I’ve to share with others.” Others such as Costa Samaras, claim that from a scientific point of view, Next is “a powerful concept”. Whatever the case may be, it’s exciting to consider these monumental strides in terms on automotive technology. We’re definitely looking forward to seeing whether Next will soon become a reality in the transportation industry!