The Fast and the Glorious

An AI-fuelled future has broadened the horizons of personal and public transport in every sphere: land, sea, air and space. Day-trips to space, airborne commutes, supersonic subterranean travel and the promise of self-sustaining energy sources help serve-up the future by putting fantasy, fiction and reality in a blender By PARTH CHARAN

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LAND Terra Incognita

Self-healing Cars Imagine the car as a complex, vascular organism and you’re closer to realising the future of personal mobility which makes the pursuit of horsepower and mileage seem so last century. Self-healing technology can not only enable the car to escape mild fender benders with limited to no consequence, it can also self-diagnose core electronic and mechanical issues using AI-powered tools to prevent future damage. At a surface level, the tech can integrate advanced polymers and micro-capsules that can release a healing agent to pave over cracks, or use smart polymers that potentially reverse chemical bonds to repair the material completely. It’s not just limited to automotive materials. When applied to concrete, it can also theoretically allow damaged roads to repair themselves—a tantalising prospect for India. While science is still nipping at the heels of fiction in this instance, cars like the MIT-built Lamborghini Terzo Millennio help paint an optimistic picture of the future. Scientists are working on self-healing tech that would allow a car to analyse data from sensors negating not only the need for the odd, overpriced paint-job, but lessening the tedium of annual maintenance. More crucially, the use of self-healing polymeric coatings can prolong the lifespan of a car and enhance safety by using routine, over-the-air software updates.

Conductive Road Charging