WAKE ME WHEN WE GET THERE
The future of travel is hotel rooms that take you places, writes Elizabeth Sleith
Is it a robot? Is it a car? Is it a hotel room? Actually, it’s all of the above — and it’s a concept that could revolutionise the way we travel.
The Autonomous Travel Suite took first prize at the recent Radical Innovation Award, a design competition for the hospitality industry.
And so what if it doesn’t exist yet? The concept is pretty exciting: a selfdriving car that doubles as a hotel room for solo travellers or families.
Its designer, Toronto-based Steve Lee of Aprilli Design Studio, says the idea is that the ATS will include a sleeping area, a small kitchen, a sit-down shower, and a work/entertainment area where passengers can use their laptops. It will transport people on trips from six to 10 hours long.
The system will work through an app, and travellers will select the start and end points of their journeys and can add stopping off points. The system will choose the route.
Lee believes the ATS has the potential to replace domestic air travel as people’s preferred mode of transport — since it will eliminate queues for check-in and security and having to lug heavy bags around.
CNN reports that Lee is currently talking to carmakers about how best to power the ATS — electric or hydrogen — and that it is predicted that, in the US, carmakers will be capable of producing fully self-driving vehicles by 2021.