This Driverless Concept Motorcycle Is Straight Out of 'The Dark Knight'

Explains the designer, ""I think driving in the future will become something exciting and very special, like extreme biking, snowboarding or hang-gliding."

by Beckett Mufson

August 24, 2015, 7:30pm

Images courtesy the artist

Self-driving cars seem set to save the world, giving us cleaner air, safer roads—and more efficient lives—but the open road might seem a lot less open with an algorithm at the wheel. Thankfully, if the solution for octane-addicted roadsters looks anything like London designer Siriphong Roongruengvuthikul's sleek sci-fi concept motorcycle, Chance, you can put us on the waitlist.

In order to fully outfit the concept, which includes futuristic batteries, interfaces, balancing mechanisms, and internet integration, and was rendered in Cinema 4D and Autodesk, Roongruengvuthikul came up with a complete vision of the post-driver transportation economy: "I think autonomous will enhance everyday life and revolutionize everything from micro-economics to urban development," he tells The Creators Project. "There's an opportunity to build something as big as the App Store. Vehicles can become more specific to purposes like delivery vehicles that stop very often or trucks that carry more, at higher speeds and longer distance. These two vehicles should have different driving systems." As should, of course, the just-for-fun ultimate joyride machine our great-grandkids will be begging their parents for: something like Roongruengvuthikul's Chance.

"I think driving in the future will become something exciting and very special, like extreme biking, snowboarding or hang-gliding. [However], these activities can only be enjoyed only on weekends or holidays and all of them require training and practice," he continues. Roongruengvuthikul created Chance for the 2015 Michelin Challenge Design, which prompted artists to "design vehicles that elicit pure driving pleasure." Unlike its obvious design counterpart, a computerized co-pilot would aid inexperienced drivers in the piloting the (theoretical) design, elevating the mundane task comprising todays commuter communities into an extreme sport. Considered with its Segway-inspired self-balancing mechanics, Chance is an idealized machine that would be more user-friendly than a snowboard while preserving the thrill of burning rubber on hot asphalt for generations to come.