Gallery: 2009′s Best Industrial Design Concepts Feature Ideas for Apple

The Yanko Design retrospective features a host of other tech oriented and household design ideas, but we were knocked out by some of the transport concepts, such as the Honda Fuzo pictured above. The Fuzo, or Honda Hovercar, is a Vertical Take-Off and Landing vehicle concept.

It’s a futuristic fantasy featuring four high-powered turbines for high-speed horizontal flight and Iron-Man-like handling. With a cruise speed of 350 mph it relies on twin joysticks to control for speed, thrust, and steering.

Designer John Mahieddine’s built in safety features include a Fly-by-Wire system that relies on GPS to keep cars from hitting one another, and airbags that open inside AND outside the vehicle to protect the driver, the car, and anyone in the path of the car should it get into an air-collision.

Ground travel is possible with the turbines, which also serve as retractable wheels. Made of carbon fibre, Kevlar, and carbon nano-tubes, this baby’s bubble canopy allows for two passengers plus the driver, “in very hightech comfort.”

Wouldn’t you love to see this diesel-electric Hybrid Truck by Adam Palethorpe cruising in the lane next to you?

One of the cool design innovations here is an exterior wheel hub system with LED indicators that make it easy to see vital data about the vehicle’s operation, such as how long it’s been driven in a 24hr period, how long it’s been driven since its last rest break or fuel stop and how fast it’s going in real time — all controlled by a built-in SATNAV system to keep drivers honest and safe on the roads.

George Lucas’s Darth Vader is apparently going to be with us in perpetuity. Yanko Design calls this a super green, super dangerous, super bike. The all electric personal transport device was designed by Pierre Yohanes Lubis with a stationary front wheel and a rear ‘tail wheel’ that can turn left to right.

Lubis claims his target market is “vibrant eco-minded young individuals” but after looking at more of the design illustrations we might add “with a death wish” to that description.

Cool!

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A more sedate, if not necessarily more stable, futurist might consider the Mobile Mini House by Stephanie Bellanger.

Inspired by John Lautner’s villa Chemosphere, this modern version of a spaceship house-on-wheels is compact and yet boasts ample living quarters. The Living Area has a bathroom, living room, bedroom, kitchen and office that fans out to a 252° radius, while a sliding screen encapsulates the house to secure it and keep the elements at bay.

Can you say road trip?

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