21st Century: A New Era of Aerocars and Space Holidays

Jul 26, 2011
Joyin Chou

Terrafugia Transition - Mike Miley

With the invention of flying cars, humanoid robots and plans for space tourism, scenes from classic sci-fi movies are fast becoming a reality

With ongoing developments in modern technology, many scenes from sci-fi movies which we may have once only briefly entertained the idea of before dismissing without a second thought, are fast becoming a reality. Given the invention of a car that can convert into an aeroplane at the press of a button, the launch of space hotels, and human-like robots which are designed to help with household chores, we are reminded of movies such as Back to the Future II, Transformers and I, Robot.

The Terrafugia Transition

The Terrafugia Transition is a light aircraft that can convert into a road-legal automobile at a touch of a button in just 30 seconds. Weighing 1,320lb, under the classification of a ‘light sport aircraft,’ it’s the smallest kind of private aeroplane under the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Owners require a Sport Pilot Licence to fly it, which takes 20 hours of flight time to obtain. Reaching top air speeds of 115mph and road speeds of 62mph, the two-seater has been declared road-legal by the NHTSA in the US and is set to be the world’s first flying production car. Costing around £150,000, it requires a 1,700-foot runway to take off and can fit in a standard garage. In car mode, it serves as any other normal family hatchback with standard safety features such as airbags and a front crumplezone. After the debut flight in March last year, Carl Dietrich, the inventor said that it was a historic milestone for the aviation industry.

Space Tourism

Not only will we be able to take to the skies on a whim, we can also take a trip to outer-space—that is of course if we have the money. Priced at $200,000 per ticket, Virgin Galactic, an addition to the virgin group conglomerate, is paving the way for space tourism with plans to take its first commercial passengers to suborbital space sometime in 2011. Based on the SpaceShipOne concept, SpaceShipTwo, which allows an economical air launch with a unique “feathering” heat-free landing system, was unveiled to the world in December 2009. Having flown solo seven times since then, the spacecraft, which is designed to hold six passengers and two flight crew members, was in its testing phase May 2011. Once in the spacecraft, accelerating up to speeds of 3000mph, four times the speed of sound, the experience will be unlike any other you’ve experienced. Hurtling through the earth’s atmosphere edges, the colbalt blue skies turn to black as you witness for yourself the blue map of the Earth which you may have only ever seen on magazine covers. Meanwhile, other groups such as the Barcelona-based company, Galactic Suite Space Resort have plans for commercially based trips to space hotels. It will take 1.5 days on a 30,000 kilometer per hour rocket to reach the unmanned pod, and once there, passengers will stay for three nights, orbiting the earth every 90 minutes and witnessing 16 sunsets and sunrises per day.

Humanoid Robots

Advancements in robotics has lead to the design of humanoid robots with increasingly sophisticated functions. While there are already a handful of robots which can mow lawns and do vacuuming, the most advanced humanoid robot to date is ASIMO. Unveiled in 2000, it was created by Honda engineers with the sole purpose of helping people in mind. Weighing 119pounds and standing at 4ft 3 inches so that it is at eye level to a seated person (such as one lacking mobility), it resembles a small astronaut wearing a backpack. Designed to mimic and follow human movement, it is unique in its ability to walk forward, backwards, side step and even climb stairs in smooth coordinated movements. With the ability to navigate and operate in our world, it can do things like turn on light switches, open doors, carry objects, and push carts, making it an ideal helper. Built with sound and facial recognition systems, it can distinguish between voices and other sounds, responds to its name, faces people when spoken to, face in the direction of sudden or unusual sounds and call people it recognises by their names. It can also respond to questions, either by a brief nod, a shake of the head or a verbal answer.

ASIMO has already demonstrated how useful it can be in its role as a receptionist in a Honda office in Wako in Saitama prefecture, just north of Tokyo where it greets guests and leads them around the facilities. It also stars in its very own high-tech stage show in the Honda ASIMO Theater in Innoventions, located inside Disneyland® Resort's Tomorrowland where it runs, walks, dances and performs household chores in the ‘Macguire household’ to demonstrate how helpful it can be. It also served a drink to His Excellency, Japanese Ambassador Yuichi Kusumoto at a Science picnic in Poland in may earlier this year.

Where does that Leave us?

While the invention of aerocars, humanoid robots which can address you by name and upcoming plans for space tourism are already big breakthroughs in Science and Technology, their cost means that it will still be quite some time before the become accessible for the everyday person. As such, we won't find ourselves featuring in the scenes of Back to the Future 2 nor have to fear of a world being overtaken by robots such as the ones in I, Robot just yet!