Uber unveils its self-flying Taxi

Uber unveils its self-flying Taxi

The future is no longer a distant utopia existing only in our most fantastic dreams. It’s no longer a realm of wild speculation narrated and described by science-fiction writers. It’s no longer a distant horizon we’ll never see. Nope, the future is here. It’s now. And if UberX have things their way it’ll be far more Fifth Element than it will be Mad Max.

Looks pretty f**ken schmick to me. Credit: CBS News

Looks pretty f**ken schmick to me. Credit: CBS News

Deadset, the plucky ride-sharing entrepreneurs have come up with flying cabs that would make Bruce Willis’s Korben Dallas very happy – at least for a few years before the revolutionary taxis become completely f**ken automated.

Fair dinkum, the prototypes they’ve released today would almost make the future touted in Mad Max look barbaric. Sleek, stylish, and – once they’ve taken off – self-flying, they’re a sure sign that humanity is on the up.

At the Elevate Summit in Los Angeles earlier this month, the company unveiled their plans to create an entire network of flying urban taxis. They even showcased a full-size model and miniature design to CBS News to demonstrate how the ride-sharing app could send up to four commuters to their destination (no, not Destination-f**ked) in electric helicopter-like cabs.

And if all that sounds like it’d cost you an arm, a leg and maybe even a left-testicle during peak-hour, you’ll be happy as a dingo in a day care centre to know that UberX reckons it can get the price as low as a buck eighty-five a mile.

There’s pretty much only one thing to say to news like that: F**K YES! Where do I sign up?

A miniature version of the proposed flying taxis. Credit: AFP/Getty

A miniature version of the proposed flying taxis. Credit: AFP/Getty

Of course, you might be asking how the bloody things work. It’s not like you can just hail a flying helicopter-taxi-cab to your house anytime of the day is it?

The general gist of it is that you’ll book your magical flying helicab at least 60 minutes before you head to a local terminal, which I imagine is something like a bus stop, where you and some randos get to ride across the sky for pretty much the same fair as you would with a regular uber.

Uber’s CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, says Uber thinks, ‘cities are going to go vertical in terms of transportation and we want to make that a reality. We want to create a network around those vehicles so that regular people can take these taxis in the air for longer distances when they want to avoid traffic at affordable prices.’

A potential flight map detailing just how much coverage these things would have. Credit: UberX

A potential flight map detailing just how much coverage these things would have. Credit: UberX

Final thought: We really do live in fair dinkum exciting times. Flying taxis operating at regular taxi prices are a bewdiful prospect. Let’s hope the idea is a success, because I’d be right on board this one!

H/T: Daily Mail.