Heathrow travellers get a robot chauffeur

[MrSquareart]

I hope that it does expand in the next year . It would be nice if went to more places around the heathrow airport.

[ninjamaster224]

lol, reminds me of the incredibles

[Wacram]

The future is near, can't you feel it in your bones?

Well, this is the future of personal transport, People won't need this pesky thing that really only serves as an extension of one's penis called a car.

[kempsdaman]

they could've done this decades ago but they want to get as rich as they can selling us all the oil first

[mg2sna]

iAutomobile.

[happyidiottalk]

I used to hate the idea of a car doing the driving for me by computer control. But you know I've completely changed my mind, it would be awesome! Jump in the pod, input destination... and then sit back, relax, put your feet up and read a book - watch the telly or shag the wife. Awesome.

[datzfast]

stupid idea rich men in suits will shit in these pods on videotape just for fun,besides this is nothing more than a horizontal elevator.

[63NY1]

cool.

[Transcentity]

To think transport will be pretty much like that in the near future. Amazing :)

[Feddex123]

doubt it, what ever happened to people's view of the future 30-40 years ago? things take longer than we wish. No-one would want to spend the enourmous amount of money on these things to make an entire transport network for a city

[thelightguy1]

Very neat, I want to see more.

[wawa2]

These are just like the pods in "Logan's Run".

[JuniorDExchangecore]

Wooo, getting rid of jobs and having robots do our labor, one thing at a time.

[NHK3115]

The sim should be more realistic... graffiti on the sides, some homeless guy living in one of them, smells like stale beer and pee inside. Throw in a used condom on the floor for good measure.

[sOulrOckmelO]

yeah like what if some1 hacks the computer that operates those???more accidents??

[IcarusFlying]

how many times do people hack traffic lights?

[SEThatered]

atlast!

[KOGR11]

nice idea

[xHALOxPRODIGYx]

OMG THATS SOO COOL!

[UltraComboer]

Hate to sound like a moron but I don't get it. Besides using less energy and the touch panel thing, what else does it do?

[squidmanlol]

it automates traffic so you can be in almost constant movement (i.e. no traffic jams or even red lights) eventually, something like this could be used worldwide, but probably not for a looong time though.

[UltraComboer]

Oh, ok I see what you mean. Yeah that can be really helpful. If they ever do make it worldwide they should make them a bit bigger. I can see a lot of people using this the next time the economy gets bad. If there's a next time ;)

[richierocks]

There will be a next time, just wait until there's no more gas on Earth.

[UltraComboer]

lol

[TheKaltsu]

that is damn awesome

[Shalek]

Coolness.

[nucliosis]

this is so friggin cool

[Denis150386]

Absolutely amazing!

[hubdog78]

I used to say that'll happen, it's just more logical, safer etc also

[Sc0ttPrian]

Sweeeeeeet even though i dont ride planes more than once a year, still cool though.

[kid29a]

Wow I've been thinking of this kind of idea and now it's being made. One thing I would add to this system - when few vehicles ride to the same direction they could join like a train so that it would make it even more energy efficient and could open possibility of long run systems like this. Of course splitting and joining should be intelligently managed by A.I.

[SiggyMe]

A enclosed people mover, sweet. Bring it on, works for me. Cloud people moving, hint cloud computing.

[redbeast2]

amazing!

[PRC1972]

I saw this on the Science channel a while back, I can't believe they are actually using this now! Awesome.

[TommieAitken]

its face is like grasshopper

[Chantzehao]

That would be really awesome and efficient if they can get the software to work properly.

[mooxim]

i like it.

[feeps55]

but they go sooo sloooww

[asdferasdferasdfer]

i bet 40 km/hr is faster than you can walk.

[feeps55]

of course it is

[dinmagic]

better than stoping like every 3 seconds in trafic.

[RobTFirefly]

Johnny Cab!

[jesusstapler]

I still want Futurama tubes :(

[soneyps1]

lol ya

[roxasdagamer]

yeah

but is it safe??

[imaginenoreligion]

Hmmm, it looks like people moaning about the female narrator had an effect.

[datzfast]

the squeaky wheels get s the greece

[fitzc1]

Noooo..... the end of 6Ltr V8s!

[alixinthemiddle]

wow!!

this is amazing!

i can totally see the benefits of this.

[Mastikator]

Science and technology is once again proven to be awesome.

[datzfast]

this is nothing more than an unmanned elevator turned on its side. big fucking deal.

[LinuxGalore]

True and false, elevators cant collide with each thus don't need clever anti collision software.

[AbsalomPitchingfork]

This is a far better alternative to flying cars, which kill everything below them during a crash.

[niiidar]

This is the future, I hope.

[duhCider]

Looks like it could make toast, too.

[datzfast]

this is a stupid idea, men in business suits will shit on the floor of this pod using it as a pod crapper with cameras watching. just for fun or to be mean.

[roidroid]

ZZZonline covered this over a decade ago.

it's only just being built NOW?

wtf Earth, wtf.

[disturbedfrog]

agreed

[ftwsmp]

It might work at Heathrow, but try installing it at Fiumicino (Rome).

Good luck with that!

[kaioshy]

The Venus Project . com

[TheManSand322]

---- So now you wait 20 mins in line to get a 3 min ride that would only take 10 min walk......

[alfredhcy]

themansand, have you forgotten the luggage?

[datzfast]

its a stupid idea, bussiness men in suits will be shitting in those pods even if video cameras are filming.

[nerdelicious5]

*cool robotic voice* There are no restrooms in this pod. Please pull your pants back up, sir.

[AceTheSalmon]

i remember riding those

[c0unterph0bia]

Old people will never be able to figure this out.

[snarper]

You just made me lol a lot!

[kd1s]

Nice! I love that this is becoming a reality. I could see that working very well in my city.

[Barboy0]

NEAT

[RobbieBlitz]

the singularity is near

[amicusnemini]

so is your mom

[themightychickens]

Considering a single hole could tear down a hole network of those "Busses", it will require some thought before being put into the public.

[MastermindX]

WTF, where is the girl's super sexy voice?

[wollygoggles]

Super robotic voice.

[holsson85]

Good in theory, but what is someone decides to fill it up with explosives?

[PapalTime]

Shoes are good in theory. They can also be filled with explosives.

[candlehawk]

And cell phones can be used for terrorists to make contact at light speed! The technology must be banned! =)

[ReductioAdAbsurdum]

Logan's Run ftw. Now I just need a button in my apartment that lets me dial up a half-naked Jenny Agutter. ^_^

[rintrah81]

lol

[kurd4life4evah]

who needs somethin like that when u got jews.

[noggyd120]

i find this fasinating but annoying coz its like the futures coming ..wow! but also its annoying coz all of this great stuff is here and i barely get to see any of the cool new inventions -_-

[HG2013]

thats not the future you are

[ErikjStudios]

well said

[austpom333]

The way of the future ( at last )

[Craznn]

Although it uses half the energy of a bus, its only transporting one person. So technically isn't the bus still more efficient if it is transiting more than 2 people?

[d1ez3]

was wondering the same thing.

[Slug99]

Pretty sure it's half of what a bus uses per passenger, if it's just plain half of a bus then it's a huge waste.

[saleall]

the cost of building this. and batteries that need to be changed out to all those cars every x-periods makes it unnecessary to make this.

[Slug99]

The same could be said about trains or subways.

[saleall]

hmm. ya maybe. but not quite. trains have not much to espouse & have longer lifetime once built.

[giascle]

To ignore the video completely, not sure if want this narrator. I like him more than the woman, but not that much more.

[Maracachucho]

minority report.

[xennelul]

looks like Logan's run.

We have been doing this with networks for decades...

[ratgreen]

wow, finally the future is getting closer

[silversobe]

Venus project o.O

[LookOUTslayerPS3]

these areb old?

[nathan4544]

That is really good but when the server crashes that controls them whats going to happen then? but then again the same could be said if the servers crash for the air traffic control radars etc they would be screwed soo im sure they will place similar counter Messieurs in place

[nowheelspin]

u ask a question and u answered yourself .happy juice anyone?

[nathan4544]

i believe they call that weed my self =)

[Athaeus]

How can you claim to be from Great Britain, and fail to spell 'counter-measures'?

And yes, when used in a large scale, there could very well be a local and/or individual systems controlling the carts, just like the modern Mercedes S-class has.

[nathan4544]

Lol not sure how i managed that but were all human and after a day at college you kind of make mistakes stupid ones at that

[ferretfudge]

Have a backup server connected via sattelite?

[shalkana]

I prefer riding on 1 of these things then a car actually

[moomoocajoo]

They have a cool "robot" monorail type thing at Franfurt Am Main not too dissimilar to this that shuttles between terminal 1 and 3.

[ston932]

but its just one rail and as far as i know only one or two trains

[serg1278]

Sounds like a lot of money to me.

[deadNIGHTCRAWLER]

what isint today, as long as ur not paying rite?

[jasonsadventure]

thats awesome!

[finalcloud13]

I hope to see this concept succeed =)

[Jourei91]

Theres also cars designed for normal roads. I think it's abit better than those automated 'trains'. :P

[TNTJahv1er]

the beginning of the future

[datzfast]

its stupid, peple will shit in those.

[ScottishAtheist]

lol!

[TrifleTrousers]

yes!

[ReallyPsilly]

People will shit in those.

Exactly my thoughts...

[kevinpaulharper]

yes, people who travel by air often have nothing better to do then shit in a transporter.

Are we all children? we cant handle a little privacy?

[AIWAC]

or join "The Pod Club". Not nearly as prestigious as "The Mile High Club", but that's been all but closed down.

Just think of all the jobs this will create, the constant maintenance of repairing (and I suppose cleaning) of these pods.

[chaincells]

camera.

[datzfast]

its stupid people will shit in those just like they shit in elevators with cameras

[stigomaster]

Shit!

[Athaeus]

Then force people to have an ID-tag identifying them as they enter a cart - that way they can get fines for wrecking the cart.

[Flyborg]

I doubt many hobos need airport transit.

But yeah, I'm sure vandalism will be an issue. Not so sure about shitting though.

[luckystrke]

the future is here

[Maronatis]

Very nice :)

[hunteranubis]

heh this would be so cool :)

[violentstatistics]

so minority report got something right

[transferosome]

Saw this on Tomorrow's World, like, a decade ago or something.

I would be well happy if it's actually built, but we could have had these ages ago.

Why has it taken so long?

[justl00king69]

Always will be people with a lot of money who have something to lose through improvement.

[McToast900]

we could have had the mechanical cars years ago, but i think its the computer system that's the big step forward. It takes a hell of a lot of processing power to control that number of cars, without any crashing or nething

[Uejji]

Battery technology probably.

[djindio555]

cool cool.

[pubtor]

cool

[Paxmax]

half the energy, emissions somewhere else centralized and better treated. Cool with that.

[hdzsound]

like train, like bus but slower