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Nissan Unveils Wearable Supercar Concept That Is Driven Tummy-Side Down
By Mikelle Leow, 21 Dec 2020
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Image via Nissan USA
Of all experimental cars unveiled so far, Nissan’s new ‘GT-R (X) 2050’ concept could be the craziest one yet. It’s a self-driving supercar that you “wear” as an exoskeleton, face-down, and control with your mind.
The revolutionary idea was conceptualized by Nissan intern Jaebum Choi. Nissan Design America’s vice president David Woodhouse was so fascinated by it, he had the company build a 1:1 model.
Image via Nissan USA
The ‘GT-R (X)’ can only fit one, and has a height of just two feet tall, while its length is a generous 10 feet.
Essentially, the vehicle makes you feel like Iron Man, giving you a sense of “machine and the human [becoming] one.” The driver wears a race suit, and “docks” in the lightweight car with their body faced down and laid out in an X shape. They have on a helmet, which, when slotted into the vehicle, switches on a virtual-reality vision camera.
Image via Nissan USA
Image via Nissan USA
The car’s interior is molded to fit the human body so as to protect the brain.
“I wanted to create a new form of machine that is not a vehicle to ride, it is the space where machine and the human become one,” Choi addressed in a press statement.
The supercar’s wheels can be rotated at 360 degrees, and are designed with a spoke pattern to allow them to cool quickly even with extreme braking. An active wing extends to boost downforce, and folds so the driver can get in or out of the vehicle.
The term “driver” is used a little liberally here; the ‘GT-R (X)’ is autonomous and powered by a “brain-to-core transmitter” that activates the car and learns the driver’s preferences. Thoughts are translated into digital form and delivered to a blue “plazma energy core.”
An evidently impressed Woodhouse commended, “[Choi] has essentially envisioned a new mode of transportation that people could experience like clothes, ‘wearable,’ instead of a traditional vehicle ‘carriage.’”
“It is the kind of breaking-the-mold thinking that has always been encouraged here at [Nissan Design America],” he added. “We’ve been honored to help bring [Choi’s] vision to life.”
Image via Nissan USA
Image via Nissan USA
Image via Nissan USA
Image via Nissan USA
Image via Nissan USA
[via New Atlas and MotorTrend, images via Nissan USA]
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