Are Flying Cars on the Horizon?

Posted by Samuel Phineas Upham

In the article “The Future of Driving,” Tom Chiarella takes a look at the evolution of the automobile and gives us a taste of some of the projects underway. He starts the article by making a good point: the car hasn’t evolved much since it first came into behind a hundred years ago. He also questions the evolution of roads. “Have they ever changed?” The answer is no.

Chiarella frames his article with his own experiences as a driver. He describes the sensation of driving in his car, being in traffic, and some of the nostalgia associated with driving. Then, he takes us to a few places where cars and roads are being reinvented. There’s the flying car, invented by Carl Dietrich, a hydrogen-car prototype developed by Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways, and the Smart Cities project.

It discusses the possibility of the fully sensored car and that it wouldn’t be unlike a horse back in the day. According to Rosalind Picard of the MIT Media Lab, “At one time, a rider could fall asleep on his horse while riding home from a bar, and the horse could take him home. The horse knew how to avoid danger, how to warn the rider. It made hundreds of small decisions for the sake of the rider. Our conception of driving can be extended in similar ways: Connect the road to the car, then connect the car to the driver. With those tools, the car could care about and have some stake in the comfort and well-being of the driver.”

For the details, read the entire article: http://www.esquire.com/features/best-n-brightest-2006/ESQ1206DRIVING_176_1