Mercedes is jumping on the self driving car bandwagon with a concept that’s as beautiful as it is completely insane. The Mercedes-Benz F 015 Luxury in Motion is a concept unveiled by the car makers at CES 2015, no doubt to a room full of awed and skeptical spectators.

The F 015 does is undeniably one of the most futuristic and slick looking self driving cars we’ve seen yet. Its body looks a lot like a 1950s animator’s idea of a futuristic car; that is, it’s not at all consistent with the body shapes of the cars we’re used to driving. But that’s kind of the idea.

Mercedes freely admits that this is one design that won’t see the assembly line for decades to come, but they are feeding our need for ideas about what our kids and grandkids will roll around in some day.

The interior is high-tech and luxurious, featuring hardwood floors and lounge seats, the front two of which turn around to create a kind of mobile conference room. Control screens are mounted on the instrument panel as well as the interior side and back walls. Riders interact with the displays with a combination of gestures and touches.

A laser projection system coming out of the car’s front can create a temporary crosswalk on the street for pedestrians, and the car’s LED tail lights actually spell out the words “STOP” or “SLOW” to help give human drivers a heads-up as to what to expect.

The car maker’s intent was to create a mobile “digital living space” that gets you around but also gives you the opportunity to be productive (or take a nap, whatever – no judgment) while you’re on the way to your destination. But the car also lets you take over the controls if you just can’t deal with not being in charge.

The concept is fueled by an electric hybrid system, with around 200 kilometers on the battery and an additional 900 kilometers running on electricity from the fuel cell. Again, not a car that we’ll be seeing on the street anytime soon, but Mercedes’ vision of future mobility is intriguing and actually kind of beautiful.

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The dreaded beeping of the alarm clock and subsequent morning drive to the office are arguably the worst part of every day. Designer Dominic Wilcox is banking on driverless cars as the future of commuting, and he’s designed possibly the most beautiful, relaxing one ever.

His remarkable self-driving stained glass car is more or less a bed on wheels. Built on a MINI platform, the car contains a mattress and the stained glass dome hinges upward to let you get in and out. The dome consists of a wooden skeleton with glass pieces carefully soldered on using the “copper foil” technique, the same method used to make Tiffany lamps.

Wilcox created the car for the 2014 Designjunction as part of the Dezeen and MINI Frontiers: The Future of Mobility exhibition. His was one of five concepts selected as an idea for a future MINI Cooper design.

In Wilcox’s vision, the cars of the future won’t need seat belts and airbags because they will be so safe. They also won’t need annoying design inhibitors like pedals and steering wheels, which frees up the entire interior for something more useful – say, a bed for catching some sleep on the way to and from work.

The cathedral-like interior seems quite serene. Wilcox’s goal was to merge parts of what he loves about the past – such as stained glass windows – with the mind-boggling technology of the future.

In any case, driverless cars are still likely quite a few years from being completely autonomous, so at the moment the rolling stained glass cocoon is just an alluring concept.

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Now that we are all in agreement that the Segway is just never really going to catch on, it’s time to look at tiny self-driving vehicles like this one to get us around when we don’t feel like using our legs. The Hitachi Robot for Personal Intelligent Transport System, or (sigh) Ropits, is a one-person vehicle aimed at increasing mobility for disabled or elderly people.

The itty-bitty car is meant to roam around on sidewalks and pedestrian areas rather than competing with much-larger cars for space on the streets. A gyro sensor keeps the vehicle upright even on uneven ground, which is an important feature when rolling around on the uneven surfaces of sidewalks.

The passenger enters the Ropits via lift-up hatch. After entering a destination on the enclosed tablet computer by touching a destination on a map, the passenger is whisked off. He or she can spend the journey reading, napping or enjoying the scenery. GPS and laser sensors help the car find its way and stay on course.

The Ropits car is meant as part of a public transportation plan in which folks with mobility problems can call a Ropits from a number of special “stops” throughout a city. For passengers who aren’t comfortable with turning over all of the control to the car, a joystick allows for a manual override. In case of an emergency (like a self-driving car uprising, perhaps?) the human inside of the Ropits can take over and drive.

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