Transportality

Aprilli Design Studio wants to bring the hotel to your front door with its Autonomous Travel Suite. The concept proposes a driverless vehicle that can double as a hotel room, equipped with a bed, bathroom and mini-kitchen, to take guests from house to hotel in comfort. Upon arrival at the hotel, the pod would lock into the larger “Parent Suite” to become an extension of the hotel room. “Acting as both a personal rental car and hotel room, the Autonomous Travel Suite provides both a new way of traveling and an extension of the conventional hotel experience,” the designers explain.

Volvo’s self-driving concept car similarly proposes a blurring of work, leisure and travel. The designs include a single passenger option with a fold-out bed or multi-passenger options with seating arranged around a desk or table for working or socializing. “Domestic air travel sounds great when you buy your ticket, but it really isn’t. The 360c represents what could be a whole new take on the industry,” says Mårten Levenstam, senior vice president of corporate strategy at Volvo. “It could enable us to compete with the world’s leading aircraft makers.”

Ikea is taking this idea one step further with mobile community centers. Space10, Ikea’s innovation lab, has designed several concepts in conjunction with Foam Studio for more enjoyable and efficient travel. The seven Spaces on Wheels vehicles include a mobile hotel, office, entertainment unit, cafe, healthcare space, farm and pop-up shop. Similar to ridesharing, passengers would request pickup and drop-off locations—for a check-up during your morning commute, for example.