The allure of personal air transport—the kind of flying vehicle that can take you anywhere, anytime—got a jolt this week thanks to the efforts of Lilium, a startup that recently completed the first successful flight test of its two-seater electric plane.
Like the maiden voyage of the Wright Flyer, it was a fairly unremarkable test: the prototype craft soared for a few minutes in the skies near Munich, Germany, with no one on board and a pilot controlling it from the ground, according to Wired. But by proving that its technology works, Lilium hopes to generate interest in its ultimate goal: a five-seater plane that can take off and land vertically and be summoned within minutes via an app, much like Uber or Lyft.
The most obvious use for a Lilium plane is relatively short trips within very congested cities. The company uses the journey from the west side of Manhattan to JFK Airport as an example: a regular yellow cab takes just under an hour to complete the 16-mile trip and costs at least $50. Lilium claims its electric jet could get there in five minutes for just $6.
Related
- Uber Eyes Aircraft That Can Take Off VerticallyUber Eyes Aircraft That Can Take Off Vertically
For that to work, of course, the company will have to overcome immense challenges, from perfecting battery technology and building landing sites to convincing regulators to let its planes fly. And it plans to do all that very quickly: Lilium's roadmap calls for the first manned tests of its production craft by 2019 and the start of commercial service in 2025.
The whole thing sounds almost fanciful, and indeed it has been met with skepticism among others working on similar designs, including Embry-Riddle researcher Richard Anderson, who told Wired that "they're definitely exceeding some fundamental math." Others are more optimistic, including Uber's chief product officer Jeff Holden, who predicted last fall that autonomous aircraft could be shuttling people around cities within a decade.
The money you save buying the $192 Quartz will probably go towards a nicer strap.
Bots from Marble, a San Francisco startup, are now delivering orders from Yelp's Eat24 app, dodging pedestrians and other obstacles along the way.
Your lawnmower clippings may one day take you on a vacation.
Relax Lilium Tests Plane Summoned by an App stories
Lift a heavy box, push a button, turn a knob, and feel the impact of a projectile in VR thanks to a muscle stimulator mounted on your back.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the semi truck will be unveiled in September, while the pickup will be ready in 18 to 24 months.
Robotics and AI allow us to hand important responsibilities over to machines. We talked to General Electric's VP of software research, Dr. Colin Parris, to find out if we should.
India's Chandrayaan-1 went missing eight years ago after contact was lost several months after it went into service.
The Jetson TX2 is the latest all-in-one computing module for processing artificial intelligence in the field instead of the cloud. Companies are using it to improve video conferencing quality and even help thin fields of lettuce.
Because it's fully autonomous and meant to feel like 'a comfortable lounge on wheels,' Sedric doesn't have a steering wheel or pedals.
It'd take a giant to comfortably grip the humongous DualShock 4 gamepad Sony made to promote the 'Parappa the Rapper' re-issue.
Matters of the heart shouldn't be handled carelessly.
The My Social app can turn your Instagram pictures into lovely watch faces.
Flaws in the routers' firmware could let hackers access configuration settings and execute remote commands. Linksys said it's working on a patch.
Website monitoring isn't as simple as buying new software. Read this article to determine a step-by-step approach to optimal website performance.
Twitch will stream all 13 episodes of Carl Sagan's 'Cosmos' twice next week.
Twitch's new affiliate program is aimed at casual streamers with at least 50 followers.
NASA's Cassini spacecraft will celebrate Earth Day by making its closest fly-by of Saturn's moon Titan before starting its months-long final journey to crash into the faraway planet.
It’s a live-streaming mixed-reality scavenger hunt and everyone’s invited.
It used to be that you'd need to be part of Twitch's exclusive 'Partner' program to start making a living for broadcasting yourself. That's changing with the new 'Affiliate' program.
