Flying Cars and Floating Cities: These 8 Radical Designs Predict Our Imminent Future

(CNN) – Speculations about the future are often grim, but for its 175th anniversary, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington presents a grand vision of how the world could radically change through a successful exhibition of technology, design and art.

Located in the Art + Industries Building (AIB), the “Futures” show will fill 2,972 square meters of space with a combination of actual projects currently in the works, design proposals from the present and past, and prophetic art concepts. Rachel Goslin, director of Smithsonian AIB, calls the program “a contemporary World’s Fair of Ideas.”

“I think it’s safe to say it’s the only exhibit in history where you can play a video game with your eyes, talk to an emotional robot, visit a deli of the future and do your laundry,” Goslin said.

The Smithsonian is the world’s largest network of museums, education and research centers, and the show’s curator, Ashley Molese, notes that the AIB has put many historical objects on public display for the first time, including the light bulb, the telephone and the Apollo spacecraft rockets.

Now, they hope to continue their legacy of innovation, he explains. “We have a lot of help these days to imagine what could go wrong in the future,” he said. “But we also need help to figure out what might work out well.” Here are eight concepts and highlights from the show.

An electric taxi takes flight

“Back to the Future 2” predicted that we would have flying cars by 2015. “Blade Runner” predicted that we would have them by 2019. But it is 2021 and we have yet to see cars in our skies. (We still have bets on “The Jetsons” until the 2060s; “The Fifth Element”, the 2250s).

In “Futures,” a new concept will debut: the Bell Nexus Air Taxi, designed by aerospace manufacturer Bell Textron, is an autonomous hybrid car designed for vertical take-off and landing. While riders still have to be patient before they can signal a ride from above, this vision of the eternal future may finally come soon: Uber and Hyundai have teamed up and set their sights on 2023 for the first prototype.

A city floats on water

With the explosion of urban populations, the expansion may eventually shift from land to sea. That’s the idea behind Bjarke Ingels’ ambitious floating city concept, which the Danish architect presented with artist Olaffur Eliasson and the Oceanix company at the UN two years ago. Bjake Ingels Group (BIG) has become famous for its eye-catching, sustainable and modern designs in Denmark and beyond, and is currently building Google’s new campus in London.

But the idea of ​​”Oceanix City” is on a grand scale. The hexagonal modular plan of the proposed ocean metropolis claims to be fully adaptable based on the needs of a city, while the infrastructure is designed to be sustainable and natural disaster proof.

A new way to start a family

Can science help same-sex couples have a baby that shares the DNA of both parents? With the progress of stem cell research and technology, such as the CRISPR gene editing technique, it is only a matter of time and it has already been achieved with mice in a laboratory. Artist and designer Ai Hasegawa envisioned that future through the speculative design project “(Im) possible Baby,” created when Hasegawa was at MIT.

Hasegawa worked with a couple who want to be biological mothers, using their DNA data from the 23andMe home genetic testing kit to create simulated images of their potential children together. The project included a family photo album as well as a 30-minute documentary film that aired in Japan.

An ultra-fast mode of transport

A hyperloop in operation in the US has been teased for about a decade, and with Virgin completing its first human test last November, the futuristic travel option finally seems to be within reach.

A hyperloop, a ground-travel vacuum tube that achieves flying speeds, has long been imagined in science fiction, but was powered by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Silicon Valley investor Shervin Pishevar. , in 2012, with Virgin Group founder Richard Branson. coming to the table in 2017. The Virgin Hyperloop Pegasus, which will be on display at “Futures,” is a high-speed pod designed to travel up to 670 miles per hour, meant to connect major cities by minutes rather than hours.

An ecological final resting place

When you die, become a tree: that’s what the Italian design team behind the “Capsula Mundi” concept proposes. Raoul Pretzel and Anna Citelli’s concept of a biodegradable egg-shaped urn topped with a new tree has circulated on the internet since it was first introduced in 2017. While it is still hitting the market four years later, the urn concept Ecological has been showcased around the world and will make a stop at “Futures”.

A new source of drinking water

In Frank Herbert’s “Dune,” fremen living in the desert create drinking water by recycling all of their bodily fluids through their distilling suits; They would probably envy the solar-powered Waha Water Harvester, which can convert water vapor from the air. even in the most arid conditions. (In 2019, startup Waha tested its technology in California’s Mojave Desert.)

The Water Harvester can produce enough water for two to three adults, a device that could save lives for the quarter facing extreme water stress, and Waha has plans to scale to design a harvester with enough power to hydrate an entire village, according to Berkeley News.

A farm vehicle with AI

As the world’s population continues to increase, food security has become a more pressing issue, particularly as climate change threatens our agricultural stability.

It’s a critical area that Google’s parent company Alphabet is exploring through X, its “moon shot factory” dedicated to solving problems on a global scale through technology.

X’s Mineral Rover prototype, which makes its public debut in “Futures,” is an autonomous four-wheeler the size of a small car that uses artificial intelligence to help farmers maximize crop yields and reduce ecological impact. that is, through the amount of water and chemicals required.

The Mineral Rover can identify weeds and potential problems with plants, as well as assess fruit maturity, according to Smithsonian.

A capital city returns to nature

What if Washington became a flourishing wild ecosystem again? That question is the foundation of an AR project by artist Tamiko Thiel, who has transformed one of the showrooms into an idyllic wildflower habitat.

Thiel, who contributed to the design of the first commercial artificial intelligence supercomputer 35 years ago, worked with Smithsonian horticultural experts to envision a radically greener future that attendees can experience through an augmented reality overlay.

“Futures” will open on November 20, 2021 and will remain on view until July 6, 2022