The cars of the future, with and without wheels

Monday, 14 january 2019 | Redacción CEU

The brands of the motor industry no longer bet on car shows with the same intensity. They have realized that there are other places where they can introduce their most innovative projects, without giving up having great visibility. The Electronic Consumer Show in Las Vegas, which is also known as CES, is a good example of this. This international event enables car lovers to guess where the future of the industry is heading. Among other things, CES visitors have discovered that passengers will not disturb drivers since they will be entertained with virtual reality devices, that vehicles will be able to perceive drivers' emotions and adapt their services to them and that cars in addition to rolling will also walk and climb. Today, at The CEU IAM Business School, we list the most disruptive automotive proposals of the event.

Once again, CES has become a showcase for the most extravagant and avant-garde technological innovations in the consumer industry: roll-up televisions, smartwatches which are capable of detecting arrhythmias and notifying your doctor, new immersive experiences, underwater drones, laundry robots, smart wooden boards, exoskeletons for people with reduced mobility, virtual assistants that are capable of translating conversations in real time,... The list is very long, but, as is logical, the motor world always occupies a prominent place on it. What are the proposals which CES  has surprised us with?

The flying taxis are already here

Although it sounds like a science fiction movie, there are several brands in the market that are working on the development of the so-called flying cars. One of them is Bell, this company has surprised the visitors of CES 2019 with a real-scale prototype of a flying taxi, the Bell Nexus. It is a vehicle with a hybrid system which is able to take off and land in a vertical way. The brand plans this flying car, which is more similar to a helicopter than a conventional car, to make its first test flight in 2020. Behind this project is also Uber, which has partnered with different manufacturers of aircrafts to develop eVTOL vehicles. In spite of the fact that it may find many legal obstacles, Uber Air intends to start up this air service in 2023.

Cars can also walk

Another original proposal of the latest edition of the consumer electronics exhibition is Elevate. Hyundai has presented a concept of an electric and autonomous vehicle which has been designed to carry out rescue and live-saving operations. This futuristic-looking car is equipped with four legs that can be used both for walking and climbing in all types of terrain. Apart from enabling access to areas with a high level of danger, the so-called "walking car" can also help remove the physical barriers that people with disability find in the environment.

Drivers' emotions are important

Kia has presented Real-time Emotion Adaptive Driving (READ). With this technology, based on the development of autonomous driving, the brand hopes to achieve a very high level of personalization inside the car. The firm wants to offer experiences that fit the moods and behaviors of drivers. The cameras and sensors of the READ system are able to read facial expressions, know the electrodermal activity and measure the heart rate. Depending on the signals which are received, the vehicle will create an environment that meets the needs of the person who is sitting behind the wheel. In particular, it will be able to control aspects such as the level of temperature, the type of lighting, the music that is played and even the massaging function in the seats.