The Sideways Elevators of the Future Will be Shown Off for the First Time

[marmar]

(Bloomberg) For more than 150 years, elevators have gone in two directions: up and down. In the future, you might ride them sideways.

ThyssenKrupp AG this week will show the public for the first time a 10 meter (32 feet) functioning model that uses giant magnets to move cars in multiple directions. The technology, called magnetic levitation, is borrowed from high-speed trains and doesn’t rely on cables. The German industrial company says the system allows for multiple cars in one shaft and can increase transport capacity as much as 50 percent.

“The concept is convincing,” Ingo Martin Schachel, an analyst at Commerzbank AG, said by phone from Frankfurt. “If the technology can be brought onto the market at competitive prices, it may offer great opportunities.”



With more of the world’s population moving to cities and buildings rising higher, ThyssenKrupp is betting on elevators, a business that brings in almost half of the company’s profit. By 2050, about 66 percent of the world’s population will live in urban areas, compared with 54 percent currently, according to estimates from the United Nations. ...............(more)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-04/elevators-go-sideways-in-thyssenkrupp-s-vision-of-the-future

[Turbineguy]

1. Alan Sherman, Good Advice:

I met a man named Otis
Who invented a room
And his heart was filled with pride
I said to Mister Otis
What does your room do?
He said, it moves from side to side!

[libodem]

2. I've had weird dreams

Like that. Now, it's real. Spooky.

[jberryhill]

3. But if there are only two people on the elevator...

...then everyone is going to know who farted.

[DetlefK]

4. Reminds me of the Star Trek turbolift...

Now all we need is voice-recognition instead of pressing a button.
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Turbolift


And where are my Futurama-style suction-tubes?

[Blue_Tires]

11. +1000

[Iggo]

5. That ain't a elevator. Thet there's a lateralizer. (n/t)

[bkkyosemite]

6. So the magnetic thingy fails

and you are outside a building

[lame54]

7. One step closer to the floaty chairs in Wall-E

[olddots]

8. exellent news

Now I can text and drink my big gulp safely on my way to the gym .

[Snobblevitch]

9. Meanwhile,

in Spain...

http://m.nydailynews.com/news/world/builders-forgot-elevator-shafts-finished-skyscrapper-article-1.1422685

[Bucky]

10. I'm waiting for someone to invent the Hi-Accuracy Bldg-2-Bldg Human Catapult for urban commuting fun

Like this, only it's for traveling between penthouses

[Yorktown]

12. Such elevators existed in 'Charlie & the chocolate factory' and one of the 'Harry Potter's

I know classic lifts have security cables.

I hope maglev lifts will have secondary magnets..

[zipplewrath]

13. Automatic breaks

Most likely they'll have automatic breaks which kick in if the car loses power, or is moving too fast. Some elevators have them now to prevent freefalling cars.

[Yorktown]

14. I have vertigo. Elevators and heights scare me.

Oddly enough, flying doesn't scare me.

I suppose humans are not entirely rational great apes.

[zipplewrath]

15. Probably an inner ear issue.

Vertigo is usually either just a visual issue (elevators with windows) or an inner ear problem. The later is due to the rapid changes in gravitational environment (planes don't really do that. Their vertical acceleration is pretty small unless you're in a fighter jet).

[Yorktown]

16. Bingo: you just reminded me a childhood ailment

Had an abscess to one ear. Could have impacted the inner ear.

But the trigger is visual (the landscape from a plane is more intellectual, less instinctive)

No idea if the two can correlate: inner ear/visual instinctive reaction.

Thanks anyway, you brought me back in time.

[Angleae]

19. I know exactly how you feel.

Tall buildings and flying on airplanes don't usually bother me. Manlifts, wobbely stairs/stands, even ladders unless I can feel it on my chest (and even then anything above 5 ft is out). The thing is, it's getting worse with age.

[Yorktown]

20. In my case, I suppose it's linked to manageable risk.

I live on a third floor with a terrace and a window ledges.

If I look down from the terrace, I don't feel scared.

I just have to imagine myself standing on a ledge, and I have a pang of fear.

Our brains can play weird tricks.

or is it just mine?

[lumberjack_jeff]

17. How wide can a tall building be to justify such a thing?

When we all move underground becoming Morlocks, I can see the rationale.

[edhopper]

18. It's a

Wonkavater.

[Matariki]

21. And they will be on the outside of buildings

where you will be dispatched a hundred floors up to platforms WITHOUT ANY RAILINGS!!!! Because, the Future.

[backscatter712]

22. Can be handy.

The advantages: You can have multiple elevator cars in one shaft, and you can have the elevator cars travel in a loop, so these elevator systems will be able to move a lot more people around.

One of the biggest limiting factors for super-tall buildings is that there's not enough room in them for enough elevators for everyone, using conventional elevators where it's one car going up and down in each shaft on a cable. This can eliminate that problem.

[beevul]

23. Its the cube.

[Javaman]

24. No more hallways!

I can see the advertising now for the new condos. "Never have to see your neighbor again!"