Remember the Shweeb? I’ll refresh your memory, then. Shweeb is an alternative form of transportation, one that is controlled by you and your legs and feet. It’s the world’s first human-powered monorail racetrack. Users are secured inside transparent pods and can travel at speeds of up to 45km/hr. As crazy as it looks and sounds, Google clearly imagines a future with Shweeb in it. This week the search engine (among many other things) invested $1.05 million into the “adrenalin-fueled” adventure. The only Shweeb transportation in existance resides in at an amusement park in New Zealand and it’s been a hit with tourists since its launch in 2007. Google managed to stumble upon the Shweeb thanks to the big G’s Project 10 to the 100, an initiative “to change the world, in the hope of helping as many people as possible.” The initiative received over over 150,000 applicants from 170 countries, and Shweeb landed in the top five after a public voting of the most promising ideas for the future. It was named the #1 in the Drive innovation in public transport category. So what does Shweeb plan on doing with the money? “The northern hemisphere became the natural choicefor us due to the sheer number of people that require transport and also the opportunity to achieve a higher global profile for the future growth of the company,” says managing director Peter Cossey. I just think Google wants a new attraction at their unconventional Googleplex HQ.
[Via Inhabitat]
