Three-wheeled experience pod proposes customizable interiors to radically change future of autonomous vehicles

Posted on 31/10/2021 by Gaurav Sood

There is no second thought about the future of mobility being fully autonomous, providing a sustainable and predictably safer way for people to move about at the touch of a button. When the future is here, we could have autonomous experience pods gliding on the roads with interiors alterable at will.

Future casting is a term used loosely to imagine whatever the will permits in order to stay ahead of the curve. But thoughtful designers are not liberal about the idea; they deliver upon concepts that set a base for getting things right in the future. They do not predict the future, they make tech and innovation flow in mannerisms best suited to grab people’s imagination and make their lives better in the future. The ease with which such artists and designers put forward an idea that could be a norm in the future leaves me perplexed every single day. It’s the interesting part of my job but things really become overwhelming with designs like the HOMM Autonomous Experience Pod that intends to make people’s lives better in more ways than one.

Leveraging upon the concept of autonomous vehicles – akin to the Volkswagen’s Sedric concept car – that sense their environment and operate without any human intervention; the HOMM envisions the future of such AVs as Experience Pods. The basic intention of the HOMM AV concept is to propose possibilities of how the space within a Pod-like autonomous vehicle can be used with greater flexibility. To give people various possibilities to conjure up their own layout, the HOMM starts out as a black canvas that can be customized for an unprecedented experience.

Since carmakers realize that autonomous vehicles are the future of transportation, they are shaping how the future would look like. In that scenario, the HOMM experience pods fit well for a reason: the pod-like design is not too far from how the Volvos, Toyotas or even Volkswagens foresee the future. Where it differs though is its three-wheeled design and the option to modify the interiors at will. This democratization of space permits users to plan a layout from select specific interiors. For this new concept of urban mobility (considering the three-wheel design will limit it to well-designed roads) and honoring an interconnected relationship between people occupying the vehicle, NOMM arrives with five presets. The pod experience can be tailored effortlessly for a kinetic tour, mobile party, multi-living, solitude or for work and adventure.

Before the AV’s are radically changed, we must contemplate the real-world scenario where the complexity and nature of our roads have rendered full anatomy in transportation still a dream we are chasing. But this distraction should not sway us to believe otherwise. Someday a large part of humanity would be traveling in driverless vehicles, and if those will allow the occupants to change the interiors to suit their travel – no other future can be more inviting!

Designers: Rodney Loh, Thomas Tellier, Jexter Lim, Sim Hao Jie, Winnie Lim

Self-Driving Shuttles to Hit Dutch Public Roads This Summer

Posted on 30/01/2016 by Alexandru Chiuariu

The WEpod driverless vehicles were put to the test yesterday, and will gradually make their way to public roads this summer.

Schultz van Haegen, the Dutch Minister of Infrastructure, launched the test phase of WEpod driverless vehicles on the campus of Wageningen University, and announced that if this phase turns out to be a success, a route expansion is in place along the Food Innovation Strip, to the Ede-Wageningen intercity railway station. Gelderland became this way the first region to see self-driving vehicles on public roads.

During this test phase, not only the technology that keeps this vehicle moving will be put under a microscope, but also such aspects as certification, insurance, liability, human behaviour, legislation, and road management and design. To bring all of these together, educational institutions will collaborate with companies and authorities in several different areas.

WEpods are definitely not the first driverless shuttles around, since there have been initiatives all around the world, with results such as the Rotterdam Rivium Park shuttle, the Heathrow shuttles and the Masdar City pods in Abu Dhabi. However, the Dutch shuttles will be the first ones to drive on public roads, in normal traffic.

The shuttles measure 275 cm in height, 199 cm in width, 393 cm in length, and provide room for up to 6 people in their cabins. Doors are operated automatically and there’s also a platform lift for wheelchairs. Don’t expect the WEpods to be lightning fast, as they can only get to 40 km/h (25 km/h in the test phase). If it wasn’t already obvious, these are electric vehicles, as creating a driverless shuttle that uses conventional fuels wouldn’t have only been an incredible disaster, but it also would have defeated the entire purpose of the WEpods.

“People will always want to travel. It is only the way in which they travel that will change,” explained Conny Bieze, a member of the Provincial Executive. “This is certain. With this pilot, we can help shape the future. This initiative will contribute to the emergence of new forms of public transport. This innovative approach is seamlessly in line with the ambitions of the innovative Food Valley Region.”

“With the WEpod, we are entering a completely new stage of the voyage of discovery that the Netherlands embarked on with the aim of making transport more flexible, safer and cleaner,” concluded Minister Schultz. “With this project we are taking new steps towards making self-driving transport a reality in practice. It is only through practical testing that we can acquire new knowledge, not just technical knowledge, but also knowledge regarding safety, liability and privacy. Moreover, this initiative opens up new economic opportunities for our automotive sector.”

Things really seem to be moving in the right direction as far as transport is concerned, at least in some parts of Europe. Also this week, Germany opened the first 3 miles of a 60-mile bicycle highway, which truly sounds mind-blowing, considering that other European countries aren’t able to build a normal driveway that long.

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