Tag Archives: flying cars

Fueling stations

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Fueling stations are up on a raised platform. Cars can ride or land there and approach a central column. A rotating overhead arm maneuvers a liquid fuel dispensing robot into place near the car while a synthesized voice crudely welcomes the driver, delivers a marketing slogan, and announces its actions, i.e. checking oil, and checking landing gear.”

A scene depicting the Hill Valley Courthouse in the foreground, featuring a pond and modern buildings in the background. Two characters are walking past, one in an orange jacket and another in a grey outfit with a colorful cap.
A character in futuristic clothing gazes at Hill Valley Courthouse, featuring modern architecture and a serene water feature, with people walking in the foreground.
View of Hill Valley Courthouse in a futuristic setting, with people walking by and a pond in the foreground.
A vibrant scene depicting a futuristic street with a large building labeled 'Holomax Jaws 19' and a man in a colorful outfit walking towards it. People are seen engaging in various activities, including a cyclist and a group standing near a red sports car.
A vintage Texaco gas station with bright signage, featuring a large logo and a fuel pump, under a clear blue sky.
A futuristic Texaco gas station with a sleek, rounded design and red and black color scheme, featuring a prominent Texaco logo and a robotic fuel dispenser.

This seems like a pretty good robot solution. It’s efficient, and keeps the pilot informed of status. I presume payment happens as automatically, but we don’t see it.

The biggest improvement I’d make is to the horribly synthesized voice. Sure it conveys that this is a robot, but where movies optimize for the first time user, that crap would get tiring on a frequent use. Pilots could also save time out of their day and do a bit of environmental good if refueling could happen at home using an technology readily available as an off-the-shelf appliance. But where would one find such a thing?

Skyways

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When driving in the sky along with other flying cars that fill the skies in 2015, Doc follows a proscribed path in the sky called a “skyway.” Lanes are distinguished by floating lightposts, which the pilot keeps to his left. It all seems a little chaosy, but so does driving in Mumbai to the outsider, and it works if you know how. The other brilliance of the skyway is that suddenly flying cars make some sense systemically. Before this, I certainly thought of flying cars as personal helicopters, taking you from point to point. But of course that becomes an air traffic control nightmare. Much better to adapt a known system that puts the onus of control to the operators.

Less successful are the road signs.

Road signs

Road signs are large 7-segment green LED marquees, the largest of which displays the exit, and smaller scrolling lines above and below include other information like current time, weather, and traffic times. One reminds us that its end destinations include Phoenix, Boston, and London. Certainly a major improvement would be to lose the 7-segments and replace it with something more resolved for legibility.

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Other signs around the city alert fliers to the skyway conditions, including weather and wind direction. This is fairly useful for someone to know whether it’s a good time to get into their car, but would also be useful for drivers to hand in hand while on the road. Still the LED display is pretty crappy typography compared to what we’re used to today.

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In contrast the Hill Valley sign is lovely partially because it’s fixed and fully resolved typography.

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