The video: While Google is getting a license for its self-driving Toyota Prius, Volkswagen is looking even further into the future, imagining a two-seat hover car, much like the vehicles that so many futuristic movies and TV shows disingenuously promised. The vehicle concept, unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show, is a product of VW's innovative "People's Car Project," a 2011 Chinese crowdsourcing design contest that drew 119,000 submissions. The disc-shaped vehicle would float above a special electromagnetic grid embedded in existing roads, gliding along using zero emissions and special sensors to avoid collisions. (Watch a charming video below, in Chinese.) Of course, the hover car doesn't exist in real life — at least not yet, says VW marketing director Luca de Meo.
The reaction: This is light years beyond personal transporters like the Segway, says Chris Weiss at Gizmag. And this hover car really "brings back childhood memories" with its snappy "mix of Back to the Future and The Jetsons." Maybe, says Jamie Frevele at The Mary Sue. But you're telling me Google's driverless car "got a driver's license before we even got to drive a flying car. Life is so unfair. Stupid science." See what you're missing:
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