During a recent interview with Bloomberg, Daimler Chief Design Officer Gordon Wagener spoke about what luxury will look like in the future and even estimated how long it will take for autonomous flying taxis and drones to take to the skies.
First, he was asked if there really is such a thing as sustainable luxury, to which the Daimler exec replied that sustainability will actually be key to the luxury of the future.
“Luxury is about being admired by society for what you have, or what you’ve achieved, or what you do. So it’s crucial to show some responsibility to society, which of course includes environmental sustainability.”
Wagener is no stranger to posting futuristic designs on his Instagram account, such as the Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury Shuttle, which looks more like a flying taxi than anything else. However, this type of vehicle is by no means hypothetical and could take to the skies sooner than most people might expect.
“Autonomous flyers and drones can solve major problems of congestion; one day, these things will replace cars or be additional to cars. It will almost be like the Stars Wars movie where you see flying objects that can go up and down.”
So when is this happening, you may ask?
“I mean, this is far out – 20 or 30 years, maybe. And, one more thing: Autonomy is easier when you’re dealing with flying things than on the ground. We already have planes that fly on autopilot today. So autonomy like this is not far off.”
Also read: Uber Partners With NASA To Get Flying Taxis In The Air By 2020
While elaborating, Wagener added that unlike with ground-based vehicles, in the air you don’t have to worry about pedestrians, traffic lights or unpredictable and complicated roads.
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