Glimpses at the Hyperloop’s Augmented, Interactive Windows

Look outside the window as you speed past a simulated nature scene

During SXSW this year, people gathered to hear about a mysterious giant tube that will move people from place to place in the future. Dirk Ahlborn, the CEO of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies discussed the Hyperloop as both a completely new transportation system and also an example of revolutionary use of crowdsourcing to create an entirely new model for how companies can be made.

As people fly through the rapid transit system based on the passenger capsule levitating in a tube that travels at 760 MPH, they probably would like to look out and see the world fly by them. Ahlborn announced at the Austin-based conference that though there won’t be actual windows in this enclosed channel, his team is planning to include virtual ones in the design.

He referred to the simulated windows as ‘interactive panels’ with which you can “look out” at “motion capture technology.” This will allow you to see what it actually looks like outside. “Based on your position, we’re actually manipulating the image,” said Ahlborn.

The video he showed defined them as ‘augmented windows,’ which could show how fast passengers are going and at which spot they’re at in the loop. Ahlborn said, “I think traveling sucks… Our goal is to make traveling suck less.”

Today, the company has more than 500 team members, including Fortune 500 companies, working worldwide to build the first full-scale passenger-ready Hyperloop along a five-mile stretch of the I-5 Freeway in California’s Central Valley. “It’s psychologically really important and great to have the possibility to look out the window,” Ahlborn noted, but also it’s about a generally enhanced customer experience. The hope here is that the screens do reflect nature and the outdoors and do not become aggressive marketing messages.

As they work to build a new mode of transportation, the Hyperloop could change the way we live, travel and experience commutes. The giant, people-moving tube is the product of new thought and calculated risk-taking.

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies

Originally published at www.psfk.com on March 15, 2016.