Spherical wheels, a shapeshifting body design that lets cars hit near hypersonic speeds, and drones that follow the car from the back, letting the driver race in ‘third person view’.
The year 2077 is roughly 55 years away, and given the track record of human innovation, I dare even assume how advanced we’ll be by then… but it’s safe to say that a concept that’s wild by today’s standards would probably be pretty commonplace half a century from now. Meet the Porsche Neuro, a radical racecar imagined for an era of metaverses, space-travel, cyborgs, and advanced tech. Quite unlike any car I’ve ever seen (including even the futuristic concepts), the Neuro’s body is divided into three parts – an exterior protective shell, an inner structure that morphs to make the car more aerodynamic, and an egg-shaped interior cabin that sits within the car as a tertiary unit, serving as the cockpit. Moreover, the cockpit is an entirely enclosed structure that provides the driver with a narrow view of what’s in front… so the Neuro also comes with a pair of camera-equipped drones that sit inside the car’s body, popping out and driving right behind the car to live stream a third-person view to the driver, allowing them to effectively choose between first and third-person driving.
Envisioned by Korea-based automotive designer Joon-yeop Bae, the Neuro concept boasts of quite a few radical automotive innovations, the most noteworthy being the car’s body itself. Inspired by the biomechanics of a frog, the car comes with a body that shape-shifts, alternating between different stances. The wheels on the Neuro move independent of the car’s cabin, popping out sideways in ‘frog mode’ or receding inward into the car’s body in ‘tadpole mode’. These two modes allow the car to either cover more ground, making it highly maneuverable on curved roads, or reduce the track width to make the car more aerodynamic on straight roads. The addition of spherical wheels are fairly futuristic too, allowing the car to have multiple degrees of freedom as it races down the track.
Perhaps the most unusual aspect of the Neuro’s design is the inclusion of drones, which follow the car from the back. Docked in special compartments near the rear wheel flaps (which double as spoilers to increase downforce), the drones pop out to offer a ‘multi perspective’ driving experience that allows drivers to view their cars as they would in a video game, offering a unique perspective that makes racing easier and much more thrilling. The drones also unlock the ability for the car to be controlled remotely, allowing the driver to operate the car without being seated within it. It’s fair to say the year 2077 is quite far away, but if this is the direction we’re heading in, I honestly can’t wait for this future!
Designer: Joon-yeop Bae
