Designed to leave accidents in the dust, this zero-emissions Motorrad Vision Next 100 uses self-balancing technology that purports to make the vehicle accident-proof and even let bikers ride sans helmet.

“We imagine all the downsides of riding a motorcycle to be gone,” said the designers. “The vehicle will be so safe that you cannot fall over, and accidents will be a thing of the past.”

As the user rides, the balancing system keeps the bike upright and adjusts banking angles while smart glasses screen ahead for hazards (a real trouble spot with fast riding even on open country roads).

Moving the handlebars adjusts the entire frame, not just the front wheel.  The design of the bike is largely based on the BMW R32, which was designed in 1923. The R32’s triangular frame has been reinterpreted, with bearings and joints hidden to make the frame appear as a singular volume.

The surface of the frame is covered in matt black textile, while body elements such as the seat, upper frame cover and wings are made of carbon fibre. The BMW logo is illuminated in blue and white colours while the bike is being driven, and red strips under the seat form the rear light and indicators.

The post Accident Proof: Stablized BMW Motorcycle Can’t Fall Over first appeared on Gajitz.

With luxury befitting Bruce Wayne and dark details worthy of Batman, this BMW concept bike by Istanbul-based Mehmet Erdem is a fresh take on a fancy ride.

The ‘Titan’ lets you lean into curves, hugging an aerodynamic frame with a side-clipped rear tire hugged by turn signals and break lights.

The whole thing looks as much like a transformer as a motorcycle, containing storage space or places for your hidden crime-fighting weaponry alongside the front wheel. Alas, like the Caped Crusader himself, this Dark Knight cycle is unlikely to go from concept to reality anytime soon.

The post Straight Out of the Batcave: BMW Titan Motorcycle Design first appeared on Gajitz.

In a recently-unveiled redesign for Lincoln’s Navigator series, gullwing doors and side stairs dominate the graphics, making entering and exiting a luxurious-looking experience.

Shown at the New York Auto Show, this concept involves design lessons from luxury sailboats, including clean lines and sea-and-sky tones of blue and gray.

The ‘navigator concept’ features a 3.5 liter twin-turbo V6 engine delivering more than 400 horsepower that adapts to different road surfaces and changing weather conditions. Drivers can choose several modes to improve ride and handling, with each accompanied by a matching digital animation on the dashboard.

The interior features leather-wrapped seats, adjustable to various body types, and a custom wardrobe management system for travelers (or James Bond types).

The post Flight of the Navigator: Lincoln Adds Winged Doors to SUV first appeared on Gajitz.

As much a psychological experiment as crowd-sourced art project, this series of 3D-modeled bicycles is based on sketches made from the memories of participants trying to recall how bikes are put together, then turned into fully-rendered prototypes.

Gianluca Gimini, a designer in Bologna, Italy, asked friends, family and strangers how they remembered a bicycle working, but without being able to look at an actual bike.

He collected hundreds of the resulting drawings, then started turning them into photo-realistic renders which look laughable but reflect a quirk of psychology that allows many of us to forget just how things go together.

In his ‘Celocipedia,’ he found “there is an incredible diversity of new typologies emerging from these crowd-sourced and technically error-driven drawings. A single designer could not invent so many new bike designs in 100 lifetimes and this is why I look at this collection in such awe.”

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Autonomous vehicles are more than just a means of easier ground travel; they are poised to become huge disruptive for both lodging and air transit industries, places to relax and snooze while going from A to B.

With respect to planes, self-driving cars offer the convenience of staying in one vehicle throughout one’s entire trip, avoiding time and annoyance at the airport, which might be worth slightly-longer travel times. Likewise at hotels: people have to plan and reserve, or at least stop, check in and out, but not if they can sleep on the road while their car takes them wherever they want to go even more restfully than a redeye flight would. The key point in both cases: not having to stop and get out provides passengers with a lot more freedom and options.

In turn, cars will increasingly look like mobile motels themselves, reconfiguring seats into different positions but also reshaping entirely to reflect the drop in some needs and additional requirements on other fronts. Seats can become more like sofas or beds, or unforeseen hybrids based on the special needs of users in a new era of travel. Driving is no longer going to be about sitting behind the wheel, but about whatever we want it to be, from community interactions to reading, resting or even work activities.

“Today’s cars are shaped to be only an emotional piece and to be very comfortable and safe,” says a senior executive at Audi. “So in an autonomous world, if cars do not have accidents any more, the cars do not have have a small amount of glass, a lot of metal, a lot of bumpers and all that stuff. It could be a bit more transparent. Once you decide you want to go for an autonomous drive or a piloted drive, then something happens in your car, so your car transforms inside and the interior changes.”

The post Driverless Cars Set to Disrupt Airline & Hotel Industries first appeared on Gajitz.