In much of America, front doors are vestigial remnants, as most people enter their houses by driving into their garages and entering, usually through a mud room. This has always been a design problem; the car is, after all, a moving living room with a comfy adjustable chair, and the garage is… a garage. And none of the chairs in our living rooms are as comfortable or as adjustable as those mobile barcaloungers.
But now, Hyundai has demonstrated the answer to our prayers at CES with their ‘Mobility Vision’ concept. Never again will you have to walk through the untempered space of your garage to get from one chair to another; instead, your smart car mates with your smart home. It’s brilliant; Hyundai explains:
© Hyundai
TreeHugger has always promoted the idea of multifunction devices, so in fact this makes a great deal of sense, having only one stereo system, one ventilation system. Who said you can’t take it with you. This also solves a major issue for car manufacturers; the thinking has been that self-driving cars will be called up on demand rather than owned, since they are parked so much of the time when they could be out serving other people. This idea enshrines the concept of ownership, since the car becomes part of the home. It’s not just sitting there, it is doing something.
© Hyundai/ tiny apartment with car
Also, TreeHugger loves small space living and tiny homes; this makes the car part of the living space. This would make a huge difference and makes total sense, with the car “integrating itself with the living space when docked, before becoming a mobile living space when customers need to move around.” At the end of the video, the car sort of drops down; I imagine that there is some kind of exterior car elevator that just zips it away, self-driving vertically as well as horizontally.
Hyundai video/Screen capture
And that chair! Imagine the luxury and comfort of never having to even get out of it. I really think that conceptually, they are on to something here. Alexander at Car and Driver is not so sure:
Haters. This totally solves the problem of lousy outdoor air quality, too much sun, scary people, this is the future. I was not one of those kids who ever wanted a pony, either live or Hyundai, but I do want this.
