Portland, 2055

Urban populations have grown at a rate of 1.5% each year for the past 40 years. In order to keep the natural spaces around cities and clear the ground for heavy pedestrian travel, elevated railways transport people to and from the suburbs. Once within the city, people needed to quickly move from block to block. By providing affordable, convenient, and sharable personal transportation, cities can increase green space without disrupting high-speed urban life.

Electronic Personal Transports

The world of single-person transports is getting bigger. Though each has found its niche, each also has a problem. Whether they spontaneously explode, have a large learning curve, look geeky in the eyes of consumers, or are a hassle to store when not in use; each device has not brought about a solution for everyone. A device that can be shared by everyone, takes up minimal space when not in use, has a fluid use-scenario, and has an aesthetic that fits in with modern architecture and cities, would be able to revolutionize city structure and the way people live and work in an urban environment.

Design Language and Technology

The design needs to do what other platforms have failed to do: be restrained. The platforms will be located within a modern city and should be a part of it. Though it should have a striking and iconic gesture, the platform itself should match the people and setting it serves. The original gesture was for a tile of sidewalk to rise and whisk users where they need to go. The technology to make this possible is a combination of rotational maglev and electro-active shape memory polymers (as seen in Batman Begins). These will allow the wheel to store flat and adapt to speed, road terrain, and assist new users.

Hankook SHIFT

The Hankook SHIFT mag board utilizes new technology to expand it's wheel to meet the needs of both the user and the city. It's constructed of shock resistant polycarbonate and aluminum to decrease weight and maintain a minimal profile. The board has 3 modes; flat for storage, half-activation for speeds 0-12 mph, and full-activation of the wheel for speeds of 13-25 mph. Lights on either side of the board are used for both night travel and pedestrian notification of which direction the board is moving, as the LED color changes depending on forward or backward movement.The clear plastic panel covering the top of the wheel bends when the wheel is fully activated for safety and remains flat at lower speeds for a more casual ride.

Smart Pegs

When a rider steps on the board, hundreds of pegs rise from the board around each foot. The pegs grip the tread and sides of the shoes for a more passive grip than a traditional foothold.

Magnetic Levitation

Electromagnets on the top and bottom of the board help maintain the structure of the wheel system, but the panels that fold out on the front and rear generate the magnetic force to propel the wheel around.

Tread Modules

The modules within the wheel matrix each contain a conductive power drive that receives various amounts of current from the board depending on where that module is located at any time in its rotation around the board. The drive then sends the current into the pod base which can change its shape and to its cables that can extend as well as bend at different angles. This versatile electro-active shape memory technology can change the wheel profile for different travel scenarios as well as storage.

Sharable for the Masses

The reason why storing the platform flat is important is that it allows many boards to be stored in a small space. City space is already crowded, so having hundreds of boards located within a ten foot by ten foot area is game-changing for the sharable economy. The boards would be stored flush with the pavement outside of public buildings and can be quickly activated when walking up to them. Though pedestrians would see ten boards on the surface, hundreds more would be hidden underneath waiting for more users. As the ones on top are activated, rise, and move away, the ones below rise and a new one is presented to the next rider. Within seconds, dozens of the boards could be activated and help transport people around the city.

In-use

The way that a person accesses the board is very similar to using a ride share app. A user's phone finds the location and selects a board and the rider claims it. The selected board then displays their name and will only activate once that user steps onto the board with both feet. The smart pegs rise to grip the user's feet and the board takes off. The board can be used autonomously at low speeds and when a destination is chosen, or a rider can lean forward to pilot the board themselves at a higher speed. Once the rider has arrived on location, the board automatically corrects itself onto a stack and lowers back into the ground to be conductively charged.

Versatile Technology

The car from the top image also uses the technology found within the SHIFT board. Here's a quick look