Flying cars shown by Audi and Airbus at the Geneva Motor Show

Autonomous vehicles seem to be the next big innovation in the car industry as research is being conducted across country gathering helpful data that could power these cars. However with this new movement, it feels as if though people have forgotten about what was supposed to be the next big breakthrough in the transportation industry, flying cars! What once seemed like really cool idea, and it still is, the expectation died out over the decades as nothing exciting was being showcased to the general public. Nothing that seemed anything feasible, or realistic.

However, Audi is still supporting the idea of flying cars by teaming up with Airbus to debut what is known as “Pop.Up Next”

Pop.Up Next is a flying taxi service that has two different vehicle models. The first model resembles a drone that is capable of vertical take-off and landing. The second model is a small pod-like car. Both of them are fully autonomous and electric.

The way the concept is described is that you pick up your phone to order a taxi. The taxi (car pod) will come to pick up and drive you to your destination, once again fully autonomously. If your route has too much traffic, a drone can be sent to the location of your car pod, attach to the pod, and then fly you away to your destination, reducing the total trip time. This effectively can help traffic by redirecting half the vehicles through the air, while the other half on the road.

Inside of the pod comes equipped with a 49-inch screen which has features such as voice control, facial recognition, gesture and eye tracking, and more.

No specific detail has been given on the production date or the cost of each pod and drone, but this is surely one of the most ambitious ideas ever from a company. This is a grand scale project that will change transportation if ever released.


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