Technology: A look back at the history of the future of cars

Rendered/wireframe model of the Minority Report concept car. Image copyright Lexus.

For those of us who grew up in the '80s, there's one catchphrase that defined our hopes and expectations for what the automobile could be like in that far, far distant future when we became as old as Marty McFly's parents: "where we're going, we don't need roads." But here we are in 2011, facing our forties, and we still need roads. The steering wheel is another matter. Indeed, if there's any component of the car as we know it that's about to be go unneeded thanks to technological innovation, it's the driver.

It's a shame that the earthbound, driverless reality of the real-world future of the automobile isn't nearly so much fun as the future-car fantasies that moviemakers and scientists have dangled before us over the past century. In this short gallery, Ars takes a look back at what we all thought that driving might one day be like in the future.

Da Vinci's Self-propelled Cart

Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

The self-driving car might appear to be a recent invention, but like flying machines and armored tanks, it had its roots in the 15th and 16th century—specifically, in the workshop of Italian renaissance man Leonardo da Vinci. His primitive, self-propelled cart was one of many designs the inventor drew throughout his lifetime, even though it may have never been built.

In truth, the vehicle was far less a traditional automobile than it was an oversized wind-up toy, and it relied on a series of tightly wound coil springs to propel itself forward. Unique, however, was the ability to "program" the cart's direction using a system of specially placed woodblocks—essentially a primitive method of automation. A working model was recently produced by American engineer Mark Rosheim in 2000, and later, one was shown in Florence, Italy.

Da Vinci never actually planned to have the cart transport objects or people; he designed the contraption for the purpose of entertainment at Renaissance-era festivals instead. However, that's probably for the best; the cart could only be programmed to turn right, a shortcoming we're glad modern vehicles have long-since overcome.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Ian Fleming is known mainly for the creation of British super-spy James Bond. However, he also produced one piece of children's fiction, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Taking cues from old aero-engine racing cars—vehicles with powerful airplane engines attached—Fleming developed his tale of a car that is revealed to have impressive powers hidden within.

For example, when the car's eccentric owner Caractacus Pott is caught in traffic, the vehicle produces wings and flies overhead instead. Later, the car manages to transform into a hovercraft, traveling on water, and it even exhibits signs of intelligence and external awareness—like an early 20th century version of Knight Rider's KITT.

Fleming's story was eventually turned into a feature film of the same name in 1968, with a screenplay adapted by popular author Roald Dahl, giving moviegoers the chance to see the outlandish vehicle imagined on the big screen. In both cases, the foresight exhibited by both Fleming and Dahl is impressive—even if the car was intended to be more magical than futuristic.

Disney's EPCOT and The Magic Highway

The late Walt Disney is perhaps best known for producing some of the most popular and beloved animated features of all time. However, in 1958, Disney and his animators envisioned a world in which cars would drive far above the earth on massive, raised highways.

As explained in Disney's old, animated short, the vehicles on this "Magic Highway" would be fully automated; a driver simply "chooses the route in advance on a push-button selector, [and] electronics take over complete control. Progress can be accurately checked on a synchronized scanning map." Looking back, Disney got one thing right—those accurate, synchronized maps have been fully realized in the form of GPS navigation devices and smartphones. The promise of automation, however, is still a work in progress.

Years later, Disney pitched another, more comprehensive concept known as EPCOT—the Experimental Community Prototype of Tomorrow. This visionary blueprint imagined a Disney-built city that would be free of cars, long before pollution and environmental concerns dominated the public conscience. The plan was to designate sidewalks and roads as pedestrian areas, diverting any necessary vehicles underneath the idyllic cityscape.

Sadly, EPCOT's original design was scrapped following Disney's death in 1966, and it developed into a theme park instead.

The Chrysler "Solar Sedan"

Via PaleoFuture

From the minute the first Ford Model Ts rolled off the assembly lines, our oil-dependent future was sealed. However, a few smart-thinking visionaries one day realized that, instead of looking below for our insatiable fuel fix, it might be worth looking above—to the most plentiful source of energy we know. The sun, it was theorized, could one day be used to power everything form our homes to our vehicles, and futurists were giddy with optimism.

In fact, it wasn't uncommon to find manufacturers like Chrysler musing on the possibility of a solar-powered future. In 1958, then-Chrysler vice-president James C. Zeder predicted that, as the efficiency of solar panels increased, it could be possible to harness that energy for use in so-called "solar sedans." And in 1987 that's exactly what GM did, producing one of the most impressive solar-powered racecars to date—the Sunraycer.

Of course, the idealistic "solar sedan" envisioned by Chrysler over 50 years ago is still a long ways off—and even today, solar-powered vehicles require custom engines and aerodynamic designs just to function reliably. Still, it's not bad progress for what was once just a pipe dream in the minds of futurists and automotive VPs.

The Jetsons' Aerocar

There really was no greater influence on our visions of the future of driving than that portrayed by The Jetsonsin the early '60s. This was a family that was the very definition of futuristic living, in everything from the artificially intelligent robot maid to the holographic big-screen television—and their car was no exception.

We're not given a huge amount of insight into how the family's vehicle functions, other than that it flies. In fact, the so-called "car" is more akin to a flying saucer than a traditional vehicle, with a large, bubble-top enclosure and decidedly space-age design. Inexplicably, it can even collapse to the size of a briefcase—apparently solving any futuristic parking concerns—which George Jetson then often carries into work.

However, it's probably best not to read too deeply into a cartoon primarily aimed at entertaining children and their families. Hanna-Barbera's vision of the future was so caught-up in the technological optimism of the time that most of its predictions are either extremely outlandish or plain impractical. However, The Jetsons got one thing right—traffic will never, ever go away, even when our cars can fly.

The Speeders of Star Wars

For a series that's decades old, it's no surprise that Star Wars is mired in more lore and history than even the most dedicated fan can wrap his or her head around—and that's excluding the expanded universe, too. However, as much as Star Wars is about Jedis, Sith, and the joys of Sarlaac pits, there's a whole lot of impressive technology involved here too.

That includes cars—flying ones, to be exact. But just like the vehicles of today, there are a bevy of different models. Landspeeders, which we're introduced in the very first film (or fourth, if that's your thing), are more hovercraft than car, while airspeeders are capable of proper flight at much higher altitudes and speeds. And though not mentioned in the films, the expanded universe explains that each speeder is actually powered by a series of repulsors which push against gravity to achieve lift.

Both vehicles' configurations figure prominently throughout the series, though it's not until the prequel trilogy—thanks to the wonders of CGI—that we get to experience a bustling metropolis filled with speeders firsthand.

Blade Runner's Spinner

It's hard to compile a list of futuristic vehicles without giving a nod to Blade Runner—one of the most influential science fiction films to date. Designer and concept artist Syd Mead was tasked with designing the film's iconic flying vehicles, known as Spinners, which are pictured throughout much of the film. A total of 25 vehicles were built by custom carmaker Gene Winfield, some of which still exist today.

Each Spinner could be driven like a traditional vehicle, but was also capable of airborne operation, thanks to a vertical propulsion system. However, the vehicles' use was limited primary to the police and other specially authorized personal. In fact, it's revealed that Spinners were only meant to augment the current population of vehicles, and not completely replace the traditional, road-bound car.

Though created in an era before CGI was commonplace, seeing Blade Runner's Spinners in action is nothing short of breathtaking, even today. These are vehicles that look as if they could be real—and in Ridley Scott's futuristic dystopia, that makes each Spinner as much a character as any other in the film.

KITT and Knight Rider

Via Flickr user zanthrax-dot-nl

Long before people began cramming laptops and iPads into car dashboards, there was KITT — Knight Rider'sautonomous supercar. Imbued with the cybernetic processor of a government mainframe, KITT was given the artificial intelligence needed to assist operator Michael Knight in fighting crime. The idea might have seemed far-fetched to some 1980s era viewers, but it's that clear Knight Rider was on the right track.

After all, many of KITT's most impressive features are now commonplace in today's cars, including voice-recognition, GPS navigation, and in-car television. Even KITT's mythical cybernetic mainframe has modern-day counterpart; almost all vehicles built within the last two decades contain some sort of computer system inside, minus the sentience and genial personality.

Of course, for every practical technology embedded within KITT, there were also numerous superfluous features. Tear gas launchers, grappling hooks, and seat-ejection capabilities appeared throughout the series—features useful for fighting crime, but less so in day-to-day life. As far as safety is concerned, it's probably for the best that those aren't available options on your next vehicle.

The Delorean DMC-12 of Back To The Future

There are few numbers that set a movie geek's heart a-flutter more than 88... miles per hour, that is. (A close second might be 1.21 gigawatts.) In fact, it's hard to forget that iconic scene from Robert Zemeckis' belovedBack to The Future trilogy in which the modified Delorean DMC-12 first speeds off through time, leaving a trail of fire in its wake.

But unlike other films, the futuristic Delorean was actually quite basic as far as features go—hardly the excessive, tech-laden vehicle seen in series' like Knight Rider. We're told the car relies on a device called a "flux capacitor" for its time-traveling activities, of course. But otherwise, there are no fancy screens or voice-activated navigation—just the raw power of time travel, and, in a later incarnation, flight.

Not that it matters, however; the Delorean more than made up for any lack of superfluous features with its looks. This was a car that, at the time, seemed straight out of the next millennium, with everything from thegullwing doors to a fusion reactor contributing to the vehicle's all-important futuristic aesthetic

Flying Taxis of The Fifth Element

You're not alone if certain automotive elements in Luc Besson's 1997 sci-fi favorite seem familiar. After all, The Fifth Element's flying vehicles bear a striking resemblance to those found in Ridley Scott's cult classic, Blade Runner. However, despite these similarities, Besson portrays the reality of flying vehicles in a decidedly different light.

French artist and illustrator Jean-Claude Mézières was chosen in the early 1990s to design concept vehicles for the film. Besson was a huge fan of Mézières work on the long-running French science fiction comic Valérian et Laureline, and hoped the artist could accurately envision a futuristic New York City. However, Besson was particularly impressed with Mézières' rendering of flying taxis and police cars, and used these vehicles as the basis for his film.

Unlike Blade Runner, however, the cars on Besson's Earth aren't capable of driving. Even the atmosphere differs dramatically, with sprawling skyways of congested traffic. As for the car itself, we see all the hallmarks of a futuristic vehicle, from navigation to voice recognition. In Bruce Willis' case, there's even a system in place to track driving license demerit points—a feature some present-day drivers could no doubt use.

Minority Report's Mag-Lev

It should come as no surprise that the film adaption of Philip K. Dick's Minority Report was so well lauded upon its release. The goal for director Steven Spielberg was to create a feasible futuristic society grounded in the scientific and technological advancements of today—and in many ways, he succeeded.

Cars, for example, don't fly. They still drive, and look like relatively normal vehicles—Tom Cruise's concept car was designed by Lexus, in fact. But instead of wheels, the cars rely on magnetic levitation. Spielberg envisioned this as part of a "transportation system that [didn't] emit toxins into the atmosphere."

Highways, meanwhile, still exist, but cars can travel both vertically and horizontally now too. In fact, there is one dramatic scene in which we see Tom Cruise leap from car to car on what is essentially a waterfall highway. It's a strange visual mashup of various futuristic predictions, harkening back to the days of sky-bound highways—but with a decidedly Spielberg twist.

It's important to note that these vehicles aren't 100 percent self-controlled, however. Artificial intelligence and remote control are clearly present, and especially evident when Tom Cruise is whisked away against his will on account of a "security lockdown"—until he escapes, that is.

I, Robot's Audi

Those hoping for a faithful big-screen adaptation of Isaac Asimov's collection of short stories were no doubt disappointed upon I, Robot's release. The 2004 film, though visually striking, possessed only slight similarities to its namesake. However, many of the ideas it presents are staples of science fiction literature, including advanced artificial intelligence, robotic assistants, and notably, the futuristic car which protagonist Will Smith drives.

In the Chicago of 2035, vehicles are primarily autonomous, particularly in highway settings. This autonomy allows them to be driven at much higher speeds than traditionally allowed. However, it is possible to override this functionality for manual operation, as Smith frequently does. This comes in handy when robots hijack his futuristic Audi, allowing Smith to spin the vehicle in an otherwise unsafe manner, throwing the robots off.

The Audi's windshield, meanwhile, is a giant piece of augmented glass that displays video calls and vehicle data at various points throughout the film. In fact, the car possesses some of the same connected abilities that have slowly made their way into today's vehicles, namely persistent wireless high-speed connections—minus the presence of an overbearing, sentient robot villain, of course.

The Windshield HUD

Via MotorWorldHype

Science fiction is built on common themes and motifs, and augmented reality is undoubtedly a genre staple. It's common in movies to see surfaces like windshields or mirrors that can be modified to display useful, glanceable information—say, the five-day weather forecast, or a vehicle's current speed. And as far as futuristic ideas go, it's one of the most practical.

In fact, major car manufacturers are finally looking to bring the concept to market, and have demonstrated various implementations in recent years with varying degrees of success. Last year, GM used a combination of simple lasers and head tracking technology to highlight road signs and destinations directly on a driver's windshield. More impressive, however, were both Audi and Pioneer's heads-up display (HUD) prototypes at this year's Consumer Electronics show, where the two automotive giants were able to project full-motion, colour images onto a seemingly normal pane of glass.

Of course, not everyone is optimistic about the promise of windshield-spanning images; another visual distraction is probably the last thing smartphone-equipped drivers need at the wheel these days.

DARPA's Grand Challenge

Take a bunch of vehicles, give them intelligence, and set them lose on a race through the Mojave desert—that was the basis of DARPA's Grand Challenge, a prize competition for self-driving cars first announced in 2002. The challenge saw teams from the likes of Stanford and Carnegie Mellon University construct vehicles that were completely autonomous, and capable of navigating otherwise unfamiliar terrain. But while the first two challenges (2004 and 2005) took place off-road, the final challenge in 2007 took participating teams to an urban environment—the holy grail of autonomous driving.

According to Carnegie Mellon's Tartan Racing team, each vehicle was required to obey rules of the road, detect and follow other vehicles, and most impressively, react to unforeseen circumstances like road closures or accidents. A quick glance at some of the entrants reveals a myriad of sensors, lasers and microchips positioned upon the cars to help accomplish those tasks.

But while the results of DARPA's challenge look promising (six of the eleven finalists managed to complete the entire 96 km course successfully) our Blade Runner-inspired existence is still a long way of —not to mention expensive.

Google's Self-Driving Cars

Using a myriad of cameras, sensors and artificial intelligence, Google has modified a small fleet of Toyota Prius hybrids to drive entirely on their own—and the vehicles are completely street legal too. In fact, in a blog post last October, the company said its cars had logged over 140,000 miles worth of autonomous driving, "a first in robotics research."

However, the car is not solely automatic; a human driver need only turn the wheel or push the brake to regain control. More importantly, the car is programmed to warn its operator of potential problems—both inside and out—ensuring the utmost safety for others on the road. In fact, as far as safety is concerned, Google believes widespread adoption of its cars has the potential to prevent hundreds of thousands of accidents each year.

Of course, as with any new technology, there are caveats; specifically, current automotive laws only apply to human drivers, placing wider implementations of autonomous vehicles on shaky legal grounds. That may change with time, however, assuming the robot uprising doesn't strike first.

Technology

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Friday, 25 March 2011

A look back at the history of the future of cars