What's this? - futuristic, driverless pods straight out of Basildon...

So what's this all about?

Fantabulous looking pods driving themselves around with their own little brains to help us get from A to B, quicker, easier and in a more environmentally-friendly manner - sounds too good to be true!

As it turns out these 'Personal rapid transport pods' are the latest innovation in the Science museum's celebration of 100 years of transport and are being installed at T5 as the new way to get from car parks to terminals. They work using a complex array of lazers, sensors and complex calculations to ensure they get you from A to B quickly and safely.


Yesterday saw the first of its 3 day appearance at the Science Museum as part of a celebration of 100 years of transport. The pod is the last of the innovations in the exhibition and demonstrates how a little bit of abstract thought can revolutionise the way we live our lives.

Congratulations to those chaps over in Basildon for creating a piece of history!

Can the Virtual become Physical?

We have seen many brands that originated in the physical world migrate and expand in to the virtual world of online and succeed - supermarkets, travel agents, insurance brokers, even banks.

Is it possible the other way round though? I can't think of anyone who has done this yet and succeeded.

But perhaps that's because society hasn't been ready for this flip back to a real-time, hands-on approach. Perhaps we're all too busy enjoying the wonders of global, instant access, to be ready to jump in the car and drive to town for a piece of retail therapy.

Yet trends shows us that everything goes round in circles. And just may be, now is the right time. With high street units empty and agents desperate to fill them, now could be the right time for a virtual repositioning and online to enter the real-time arena.

With the likes of ASOS posting profits of 93% growth today (well-done ASOS!) perhaps they could become tomorrows TopShop? Think about it. A brand that has turned the fashion industry upside down, changed how we buy our clothes and even encouraged men to buy from an online catalogue - why not?!

We're not saying they simply need to open a store and it will be good times all round. Quite the opposite. But what if they were to approach designing a store in the same innovative way as they launched there website. What if they were to totally change the way we buy in store, what then?

Could they, and others do it? It's a massive challenge, but we'd love to make it work!

Real Eco super model

To rival Steve's blog on the low-carbon lorries... here's the Scorpion, a hydrogen fuel injected sports car.



Basically 'it generates water from from the inbuilt tank, turns it into hydrogen and then injects it into the cars system'. It's carbon emissions are reduced by 75% and fuel millage is increased by between 20-40%!! Plus the design looks super slick, proving eco-friendly doesn't have to mean unattractive design. The Scorpion's just had it's European debut at Top Marques in Monaco so hopefully we might see it in over here soon...

Bee uber-local

The discovery that legendary food retailer Fortnum & Mason (F&M) produces and sells honey from the bees kept on its roof left us amazed and in awe. What a great idea and resourceful approach to sustainable food production!

The palatial beehives were created for the Carniolan bees and were orignally located in Shropshire, circa. 2005/06. The superior domiciles are now located on the roof of the iconic building at 181 Piccadilly.

F&M say that "they (the bees) fly high above Mayfair, visiting the grounds, gardens and squares of the best addresses in London, gathering rather superior nectar. The first batch of Fortnum's rooftop honey will be unusually fine, thanks to the wide variety of flora in the immediate vicinity, and the pollen from numerous chestnut and lime trees."

Images care of Fortnum & Mason.

Eco super model

Just saw this... a new generation of super model lorries that help to reduce carbon emissions whilst also providing more haulage space.

The aerodynamic innovation is predicted to reduce carbon emissions by an estimated 10%.


Image care of www.shiply.com

A parking revolution

Writing that title makes me think that this could be a very boring blog! But believe me once you've used intelligent parking you will never want to park in the normal way ever again.

The intelligent parking system is becoming more common in large, new complexes such as Westfield London and T5 Heathrow. It is definitely a system that has been designed with parkers in mind, here's a drivers experience:

- as I enter the car park there are signs indicating the number of available parking bays in different locations of the car park, this info is real time, so it's accurate at the point I am looking at it. I can then make a choice about the best area for speedy parking

- then as I drive through the car park there are more signs that again indicate the number of available parking bays within the immediate area, handily directing me to the most likely available spot

- now that I am in an area where there are supposed to be available spaces I can see rows of lights positioned above each parking bay, colour coded to indicate which bays are available and which are taken.


In summary, when these parking systems are in place you don't really think that much about them but you do appreciate not having to spending time, sitting in a hot, stuffy and polluted multi-storey car-park.. just follow the lights and they'll find you a space, nice!

Images care of: Highlightparking

Don't play with your food!

On a mid-week field trip through the capital, Inamo restaurant on Wardour Street was the top of the must see list! The concept behind it came from the owners own frustration with not being able to get a waiters attention, something I'm sure we've all experienced at some time.... The basic idea is that the menu is projected on to the tables and you interact and order from it via a small pad in one corner.



The idea that you can order anything on the menu at the touch of a button is obviously very efficient but also a very clever form of relaxed ordering that makes it very easy to stack up quite a bill.



Many psychological studies have proved that the key to raising sales is to encourage your consumers to "linger for longer'. The longer they're in a store or restaurant, generally, the more money they will spend.

So another little trick Inamo has up it's sleeve (whether it knows it or not!) is that it's very entertaining projection technology can keep you busy for a fair time, playing games, checking the chief doesn't drop your food on the floor with 'chief-cam' and changing your table cloth 30 times over.. all whilst ordering another round of cocktails.



So the fact that this restaurant is so unique and currently the only one of it's kind in the world certainly makes it a destination and something unique to talk about so the young, trendy crowds of Soho are no doubt spreading the word as we speak!