I showed you some pretty interesting vehicle concepts up until now: cars, lunar vehicles, boats, motorcycles, bicycles. Speaking of bicycles, here’s a new ingenious prototype coming from GBO Design.
DVIce informs that the bicycle concept dubbed Di-Cycle works great on solid ground as well as on water. The designers specifically built the Di-Cycle for the residents of the Helmond city in the Netherlands, as the city has as many watery channels as it does roads. The Di-Cycle does not feature the usual bike design. The two wheels are position on the left and right side of a riding pod which has its front end a bit elevated in order to allow the rider to pedal. The wheels seem to be offering enough stability and it probably relies on the principles of a Segway to provide enough maneuverability. I can’t quite figure out how it’s supposed to be driven on water, though. I can certainly float, but it looks like it needs to be propelled by something, other than the big wheels. Plus, the isn’t really aerodynamic or hydrodynamic and it appears it won’t be that speedy.
Anyway, the concept certainly looks nice in that iPod white finish and it could be transformed into a commercial vehicle in the near future.
If you are a happy MINI 1 car owner, you know the Central Display unit sitting in the middle of the dashboard is one of the coolest things inside that car. I know the girls dig that multimedia center feel of the display unit, ain’t nothing wrong with that. However, the guys that designed the MINI interior are now thinking of replacing the unit with something more futuristic, mind you. Something like a crystal ball. Of course it doesn’t show what’ll happen in the future, but at least it’s shiny and round!
So what’s the deal with the MINI Center Globe? Well, it features a three-dimensional layout which is supposed to consistently integrate a lot of car functions with an appropriate presentation of information and entertainment options. The three-dimensional aspect of the Globe is given by its multiple displays stratified on various levels and highlighted to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the driver’s and front passenger’s requirements. Moreover, the MINI Center Globe comes with ultra-modern laser projection technology, which allows simultaneous presentation of pictures on various levels, with a varying focus and optimal color contrast.
Jalopnik informs that the Center Globe also integrates what the designers call the Crossover Concept. This translates into the fact that the Globe can be optically split into two hemispheres. These adjustable, moving hemispheres then enable the driver and front passenger to present and view different pictures recognizable only from their individual perspective. This special function is activated through the hemisphere facing the front passenger, which closes down from the other side and acts as a projection surface presenting the pictures required.
The designers imagined an intuitive way of controlling the Globe. This way, the driver and/or front passenger operate the MINI Centre Globe by a touch-sensitive surface, a trackball on the steering wheel, buttons and slide controls in the lower section of the MINI Centre Globe, and a keyboard on the front passenger’s side extending at the touch of a button from the dashboard.
The Center Globe might get integrated into MINI 1 cars in ca couple of years.
I wonder why designers find it hard to come up with interesting water vehicle concepts. I know cars and flying vehicles always come at a premium, but instead of building huge spaceships that would take us to other worlds, why not build vehicles that would help us fully explore our own? After all, the oceans still remain vastly unexplored beneath their surface. Seems I got a bit carried away here, just bear with me a bit. I just wanted to present a yacht concept that looks something like this.
OK, so it won’t help you find the gates of Atlantis or Lemuria, but at least you get to explore the oceans Columbus-style in this stylish Krysalid Trimaran yacht. It’s more of an elitist vessel, if you’d like. Why elitist? First of all, it will set you back $606,600. Second, the boat is a trimaran, and you know these kinds of vessels are virtually unsinkable, even though they are soaked in water.
It’s one of those yachts that has a sail, but you don’t really have to worry about it. According to EliteChoice, the foldable structure can be unfolded within two minutes. In case you’re wondering if you could throw a party on this one, know that the Krysalid offers enough room on the bulky 42 foot bridgedeck tavern.
Apart from letting you enjoy an adventurous journey across the world, the Krysalid is also designed for racing shows and fast cruise racing competitions.
What happens when you need to know more about a given term, person, event or whatever you come across? Before the proliferation of the Internet, when you needed to know more details of some particular thing, you could check an encyclopedia. Now we have Wikipedia and other online encyclopedias that can be easily updated, unlike the paper versions, which have to be reprinted every year. Apparently, there still are some regions left without Internet access, where the access to education is not a priority. Instead of making use of the One Laptop per Child policy and implement wireless Internet infrastructures, these unfortunate regions could use some new technology which can place the information source right on the fingertips, literally.
According to Slashgear, Touch-Hear is an innovative system which lets you tap any word you see in a book and then hear an explanation or definition of that word. Foreign words are translated, or in case no translation exists, the foreign term is explained and described in a simple manner. Major events, locations, important personalities and other terms of interest are also defined and explained for you.
Responsible for the Touch-Hear concept is Design Incubation Centre from Singapore. The Asian institute wanted to provide new ways of gaining access to education for children coming from underdeveloped countries.
Speaking of hybrid vehicles that can be transformed into planes, here’s how I’d like the plane part to look like. A compact private jet, not a Hercules, of course. It’s known as the Eclipse 400 and was designed by Eclipse Aviation as a business/sport plane.
Red Ferret informs that the Eclipse 400 only integrates a single engine which sits on its back, right in front of the tail. That is why the plane has a V-tail instead of a normal one. The private jet is designed to carry no more than 3 people plus the driver or around a combined payload of 840kg consisting of people and fuel.
Since it’s so compact, the jet plane is said to be the most economical aircraft in the world when it comes to burning fuel. The jet tops at 580km/h and at this speed it consumes less than 1 pound of fuel for every 1.7 km flown. If you plan to fly all by yourself, filling the entire tank of the plane will allow you travel about 2100km.
The interior of the aircraft is similar to that of a sports car. The dashboard is full of spiffy lights, screens and controls and the seats look like they’ve taken from a Bugatti Veyron. It might seem a bit tight for four persons, though.
I knew you’d ask about the price tag. If you really want to know, an Eclipse 400 is going to sell for $1.35 million but you won’t be getting one until 2011, so there’s enough time to heap up some savings. Before buying this thing, you might want see it in action. Here’s a demo clip with the Eclipse 400 soaring over the Californian landscape:
