Airbus new concept is a car, a drone, and a train

Airbus just announced a new conceptual car-and-drone project called Pop.Up. This feels like the 100th car-drone concept that have been shown in the last few years. It’s not even the first one announced at the Geneva Motor Show. But this time, the car is the drone. The drone is the car. And, in Airbus’ fantastic future world, you can transition from car to flying car to train all without lifting from your seat.

Airbus

Pop.Up revolves around a small, Smart Car-sized monocoque (or “passenger capsule,” as Airbus calls it) that can be used in multiple modes of transportation. The conceptual video, shows a woman summoning the capsule to her home in self-driving car form. It takes her to a parking garage where a giant quadcopter scoops the capsule up to fly her the rest of the way to her destination. Later in the video we see a row of the capsules embedded inside a sort of train too.

The whole system is powered by artificial intelligence, which Airbus says will develop a “seamless travel experience” by dodging congestion. There’s also an augmented reality component, which at one point is used to ask for feedback on a proposed bike lane.

Airbus partnered with Italian design firm Italdesign, which made production cars like the original Volkswagen Golf and dozens of concepts for BMW, Alfa Romeo, and more. But this design is so futuristic that it plays like concept bingo. Vertical take-off and landing, zero-emission electric motors, AI and AR.

 Pop.Up is a neat idea that is more likely to show up in a video game before it comes to reality.  Airbus hasn’t announced a timeframe for the project.

Advert