Virgin Hyperloop unveils its vision for the future of travel
By David Malone, Associate Editor
Just a few months after Virgin Hyperloop completed its first passenger testing, the company has unveiled the design vision for its end-to-end passenger experience.
Virgin Hyperloop has released a new concept video (below) that takes viewers through the step-by-step process of a hyperloop journey, from arriving at the Bjarke Ingels Group-designed portals, to boarding the Teague-designed pods, to being transported to the destination portals.
“The new mode of travel at supersonic speed rethinks transportation and the perception of space, landscape, time, and distance,” said Bjarke Ingels, Founder & Creative Director, BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group, in a release. “In this day and age, Virgin Hyperloop taking off from our portals provides holistic, intelligent transportation for a globalized community to travel across vast distances in a safer, cleaner, easier, and faster way than airlines.”
The passenger experience is designed to be a multi-sensory experience that surpasses that of any other form of mass transit. It forgoes dark colors, stark lighting, and numerous screens for a more optimistic future that is greener, smoother, safer, and more pleasant for the passenger.
“Recessed seat wells provide a greater sense of space, while the raised aisle is a touch of the unexpected and unique. Bands of greenery and wood textures subvert the aesthetic of typical mass transit materials with something optimistic and fresh.” Said John Barrett, CEO & President of Teague, Virgin Hyperloop’s pod designer, in a release. “All lighting in the pod—including the unassuming information displays—are dynamic and adjust based on traveler activity and journey milestones."
See Also: BIG designs Hyperloop Certification Center for Virgin Hyperloop
Virgin Hyperloop aims to achieve safety certification by 2025, with commercial operations such as those depicted in the video, beginning in 2030.