Video Title: 10 Technologies that will change the way we travel. Take a good look at your car. Memorize the shape of the steering wheel and the grubby tyres and the worn gas pedal. Soon, it will all change. In a few decades, the car in your garage will be fully autonomous. Or have robot legs. Or may even fly. Or maybe you won't have a car. Maybe you will travel on a train that will move at the speed of sound. Maybe your next travel destination may not be Europe or Japan or South Korea. Maybe it will be a hotel suspended in the Earth's orbit. Here are ten technologies that are bound to change the way we travel. 1. Self-driving cars. ○ According to US National Highway Traffic Safety, human error accounts for 94% of all road accidents. So how do we address this worrisome statistic? Easy. We just let the cars drive themselves. Self driving cars are the future of driving because of their highly intelligent environment sensors, unwavering obedience to traffic laws and well most of all… their highly convenient virtue of never getting drowsy behind the wheel after a long day of work. Most companies offer cars that are, to a certain extent, autonomous. While we aren't on a Level 5 stage of Full Automation, it can be safely said that we are evolving from a level 2 to level 3 (conditional automation ((Editor: Display on screen)) ) of automation. We have Tesla and GM and Benz testing driverless car technology. With time and research, the mundane, nonessential task of driving would be removed from our shoulders. We would sit back, relax, and let the car drive itself. 2. Space tourism ○ Reusable rockets have made space tourism a definite possibility. Private companies such as SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic are working towards making space travel accessible to the average man. Currently, Virgin Galactic offers a spot to anyone willing to pay for a $200,000 ticket to be a part of their space expedition to orbit. US company Orion Span has even announced plans to build its own commercial space station in Earth’s low orbit which would serve as a space hotel for tourists who are willing to pay £7 million for reservations. Bored with this Earth’s familiar terrain and tourism options, travel enthusiasts may simply plan a vacation to the moon. Of course for this to happen, several years need to pass, and several developments in technology need to be made to make space travel a viable option for an average consumer. Once the necessary strides in space travel technology are made, the sky will be your limit. Quite literally. 3. Supersonic Travel ○ Traveling at the speed of sound was achieved back in 2003 and now it will be achieved again. US airline United announced that it planned to purchase 15 supersonic airliners and return to supersonic aviation in the year 2029. A Denver based air company Boom has also planned to produce the Overture aircraft which is expected to reach 1122mph, twice the speed of a typical jet which is usually 560mph. This means you can reach your destination in just half the time. A flight from London to NY would just take 3.5 hours instead of its usual 6. Not only would you save time, you would also escape the throes of a highly dreaded jet lag. 4. Flying Cars ○ Flying cars may soon become a possibility with Uber Elevate which was sold to Joby Aviation. Joby Aviation is developing an all electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. Joby, which will unveil its services as early as 2023, aims to provide customers with an enjoyable air taxi ride through ride hailing services from Uber app. These cars will suspend on rivers, assuming the role of a temporary boat. Uber, however, is not the only company planning to introduce flying vehicles. In October 2020, Hyundai unveiled plans to set up a separate unit to develop a lineup of completely airborne vehicles. At the 2020 Consumer Electric Show, it presented a mockup of a flying taxi that it dubbed SA-1. Flying cars used to be the first thing that popped into our heads when we thought of future technology. These car designs and concepts seem to be a manifestation of our earliest visions of a futuristic society. It almost seems like the future is here, knocking on our front door. 5. Hyperloop ○ Hyperloop is a project started by Elon musk currently under development which aims to build underground tunnel trains to relieve some of the traffic aboveground. Unlike a traditional railway system, Hyperloop would carry passengers through a tube with vacuum in order to reduce friction and increase speeds to upto 750 mph. The train pods also are designed to float on air skis, which uses the same idea as air hockey tables, or magnetic levitation. Hyperloop is argued to be safer, faster, more affordable, and a completely nondisruptive, weatherproof transport system. 6. Hyundai 'Elevate' car concept ○ Hyundai's walking car concept unveiled is simultaneously the most bizarre and the most ingenious concepts to date. Debuted in CES 19, “Elevate” unveiled a one of a kind Ultimate Mobility Vehicle (UMV). The key idea behind this car concept was to design a vehicle specifically used for emergency relief such as floods. It blends the technology of electric cars and robots. Equipped with wheels and robotic legs, it would cross even the most rugged and difficult terrain. It would forge forward where traditional road vehicles cannot, responding to natural disasters within 72 hours of them occurring and providing immediate help to those in dire need. The robotic legs would be capable of both mammalian and reptilian gait, moving in any direction. It could climb walls, jump over gaps, and walk over rugged terrain with complete ease, all the while keeping its passengers safe and comfortable. 7. Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) Communication ○ V2V communication is expected to increase efficiency in transport, reduce road accidents, and allow for full automation in vehicles. Operating entirely through sensors and transmitters, V2V takes away responsibility from car drivers. In its early form, V2V will provide a warning to vehicle drivers when it senses obstacles. However in later, more mature stages of development, V2V communication plans to eliminate responsibility from drivers and fully automate car travel. Additional features would include traffic congestion alerts, weather reports and alternate routes to make travel more efficient. 8. Augmented Reality dashboards ○ Augmented Reality dashboards aim to improve driver experience, increase safety and prevent possible obstacles and intrusions. It lays crucial information within the driver's periphery and increases safety with a heads up display, removing the need for the driver to look down at their dashboards repeatedly. Nissan has reportedly developed an Invisible to Visible technology where car drivers in the future can simply choose to have an AR passenger to interact with them and perform some of the copilot duties. Several cars such as BMW, Chevrolet, Jaguar, and Lexus have some AR features. Using a Head’s Up Display (HUD video editor: display on screen), these cars will ensure that critical information about speed, gas levels, lane guidance, and directions are displayed for the driver. In the future, it is likely that AR will combine side view and rear view mirrors to present a panoramic reflection that would remove any blind spots. Safety is essential and the constantly evolving car technology will one day remove all safety concerns and hazards that we face today. 9. Japanese "bullet train" technology ○ The Japanese bullet train Shinkansen can carry almost a million passengers everyday. For over 50 years, these trains have been traveling at a tremendous speed of 2000 miles per hour with no compromise on passenger safety. One of the aspects that make bullet trains in Japan so safe are their Automatic Train Control (ATC) system, their centralized line controls, and their emergency stopping stations. Overall, the Shinkansen offers an optimal train experience with new updates making it faster, safer, smoother, and quieter. Plans are being made to implement a High Speed Rail, similar to Shinkansen, in California to link Sacramento and San Diego. This would improve your daily commute immeasurably. 10. Maglev ○ Maglev allows for railway transportation through magnetic levitation resulting in trains that can travel at the speed of 310mph. How? Because it eliminates all frictional forces. The fastest Maglev train operating at 374mph in Japan is reported to open its services in 2027. These trains have gained traction in China and the USA, introducing a sustainable green option for railway travel. China has made leaps in Maglev, unveiling a maglev train in Qingdao in 2021 under a state owned railway company CRRC. It can reach speeds close to 600 km per hour and emit zero greenhouse gasses. Sustainability and environment protection is likely to be the main priority and concern of any consumer in the coming years. Coupled with the rapidly rising prices of private vehicles as well as fuel needed for them, there may be a shift towards using public train services. In such a situation, Maglev will be monumental as it will be faster, cleaner, and therefore, more convenient. Our travel experience will be very different in the next 10 years. And even more different in the next 20 years. The time when you enjoy your car’s good old steering wheel and its good old gas pedal may be running out. The good news is - better things are headed our way.
