(Bloomberg) – Uber Technologies Inc., still in the midst of trying to remake transportation on the ground, is exploring the viability of an aircraft that can take off and land vertically for city use.
The ride-hailing giant published a 98-page whitepaper outlining its research titled "Fast-Forwarding to a Future of On-Demand Urban Air Transportation."
While Uber isn't planning to build its concept for a helicopter-like vehicle, the San Francisco startup said it would organize a conference to discuss the development of what it calls VTOL, or an aircraft for vertical takeoff and landing. It refers to the nascent flying-car program as Uber Elevate.
|Futurist's arms race
Travis Kalanick, Uber's chief executive officer and co-founder, has launched a sort of futurist's arms race with Alphabet Inc. CEO Larry Page. Google, which is 18 years old, has mastered the art of futurology, with augmented reality, self-driving vehicles and human-life extension. Page has personally invested in startups building flying cars. Bloomberg Businessweek reported in June that Page has spent more than $100 million on Zee.Aero, one such flying-vehicle maker.
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