Cars are changing almost shockingly quickly. Autonomous vehicles are advancing forward every day. New safety technologies are networking our cars together to prevent accidents. And Goodyear thinks tires should join them, by announcing what amounts to the tire of the far future.
This is, as the company makes clear, largely just a concept at the moment, but it’s rather forward-thinking. The idea is that instead of making tires in a factory, your car will collect data on your driving habits and your tires will be customized by a 3D printer. Sensors will be added so that your tires can figure out the best wear patterns to extend tire life, and while they’re at it, reorient the treads to keep a grip as conditions change.
Why, though, are they spherical? Because it allows automatic parking systems to slot the car in a lot automatically, saving space. Finally, if you were wondering how you install them, they’re going to have magnets inside of them and your car will ride on the magnetic field.
Needless to say, most of this stuff is in the early testing stages, at best. The technology where you lift a tire shaped like a kickball into a wheel well and a magnet puts it into place may be decades away. Still, it’s a pretty neat look at the future, and who knows? The future has an odd way of arriving faster than we thought.
(via Facebook)