Niklas Hoffmann

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Today, the issues of global warming become increasingly apparent. That is why many people try to reduce their reliance on technologies and products which have a negative impact on the environment. They seek sustainable solutions as substitute for non-sustainable ones. Therefore, many people mention either electric vehicles or public transport as a sustainable solution instead of traditional cars and taxis (Vidal, 2022). However, both these solutions have potential difficulties. Electric vehicles might be sustainable but in many cities, there is an inherent problem of traffic congestion, leading to attempts to ban cars (Vidal, 2022). To avoid these congestion issues, there are public transport systems using rails (Metros and trams). However, they are reliant on space inside cities which is becoming increasingly scarce. Additionally, they have fixed stops, with sometimes significant distances between stops, making them less attractive than cars. That is why a Germany startup decided to develop a transport system which makes use of the space above streets.

The ottobahn is a transport system using the suspension railroad approach. The idea is to build hanging cabins that are guided by a railroad system in the air, to avoid traffic congestion inside the cities while enabling individual stops along the way. This railroad system is supposed to be distributed throughout the city. The system includes: 1) the suspension railroads ca. 5 – 10m above the ground, 2) the cabins which have space for up to 4 people, 3) the parking/lowering technology, that lowers the cabin to street-level, 4) an AI powered software that enables the determination of routes and management of systems for traveling and safety, and 5) a platform to book rides. Compared to normal public transport solutions the system is designed to enable stops almost everywhere along the way due to the lowering mechanism and the individual cabin design. Furthermore, it is supposed to enable a transport free of switching trains/cabins as the rail system is interconnected at every point. To enable a sustainable travel the system will be equipped with solar panels to automatically generate a large amount of power used for the operation. However, next to city travels, the system is also supposed to enable the travel between different city systems with speeds up to 250km/h. (Höpner, 2020; Ottobahn, n.d.; Richter, 2022)

Die Gondeln sollen fünf Meter über dem Boden schweben.

Ottobahn (n.d.). Ottobahn concept. https://ottobahn.de/en/home/

Although this concept is still in its development phase, the planned date for being ready for series production, is projected for end of 2022. At the same time there is significant positive feedback from the politicians in Munich (Germany) who are looking forward to a first commercial railroad in the next years (Richter, 2022).

I think this system could offer a good alternative or addition to current public transport systems already available. The design makes use of city space which is currently not used and therefore enables more freedom when it comes to planning and building optimal routes. Furthermore, it is a new technology that tries to reduce the number of cars while being sustainable and independent from streets which cities are beginning to close down to reduce the number of vehicles in the cities. However, the success of the product is also highly dependent on the railroad system that they will be able to build. If it should be too small and hinder free and flexible travel, the advantage of the solution will be extremely limited, with current public transport systems having the edge. Furthermore, it is of course highly dependent on the acceptance of such a system by the local governments and citizen. Nonetheless, I think the idea behind this new transport system is a highly interesting one and worth to follow in the future.

What do you think? Could this technology be a solution to our current problems regarding sustainability and transportation in cities? Or do you think it one more new technology which will fail to create significant change?

References

Höpner, A. (2020, July 15). Ein Autoexperte will mit einer Gondelbahn den Verkehr revolutionieren. Handelsblatt. https://www.handelsblatt.com/technik/thespark/start-up-ottobahn-ein-autoexperte-will-mit-einer-gondelbahn-den-verkehr-revolutionieren/25958804.html

Ottobahn. (n.d.). Ottobahn: Moving technology & innovation. Retrieved September 25, 2022, from https://ottobahn.de/en/technology/

Richter, D. (2022, March 17). Die Ottobahn – Neue Form der Mobilität für die ganze Welt. Merkur. https://www.merkur.de/lokales/muenchen-lk/taufkirchen-bei-muenchen-ort486320/neue-mobilitaet-fuer-die-ganze-welt-91417601.html

Vidal, J. (2022, August 30). Transport The age of ‘the car is king’ is over. The sooner we accept that, the better. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/30/car-is-king-accidents-pollution-road-vehicles-public-transport

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The Metaverse is a concept that was already created 30 years ago by fiction novel author Neal Stephenson (Momtaz, 2022). For a long time, the Metaverse received only a limited amount of public attention, until large technology companies such as Facebook and Microsoft started to invest heavily in this futuristic technology (Brown, 2021). Simply put the Metaverse is a virtual world which enables people to use avatars (digital human which can be freely created) to take part in social and economics interactions (Lee et al., 2021; Momtaz, 2022).

Many popular examples of today’s Metaverse are in the context of gaming and simple social exchanges within the Metaverse. However, it is proposed that the Metaverse in combination with VR technology could also be used to significantly enhance the way today’s education is done (Ragav et al., 2022). According to (Suh & Ahn, 2022), the use of the Metaverse in an educational setting can actually have beneficial effects on the performance of students. So how could the Metaverse for educational purposes look like?

As the Metaverse enables the creation of virtual worlds, education gets unique possibilities to let the students discover and experience topics in a more realistic way. Ragav et al., (2022) propose to combine the metaverse with virtual reality (VR) technology to let students actively engage with topics which are currently only demonstrated using books and short 2-D videos. Image a history lesson where you really dive into the past and can learn about the time as if you are there. You can experience historic events and be immersed into the historic world in a way that is not possible using traditional teaching techniques (Ragav et al., 2022). Next to experiencing historic events, this technology can also help teachers and students to experience realistic scenarios which are normally very complex and therefore difficult to grasp for students or simply not within budget for the school (Jensen & Forbes Technology Council, 2022; Ragav et al., 2022). The metaverse opens up the possibility to conduct for example physics and chemistry experiments, which are too dangerous in real life (Jensen & Forbes Technology Council, 2022). So how realistic is it?

In my opinion and looking back at my own time at school with many complex concepts which were difficult to understand using a book and short videos, I see a large potential of using the Metaverse for educational purposes. A higher engagement always enabled me to better understand the topics that were discussed. However, I just think that the technology is not quite there yet. First, the required technology to create a Metaverse as well as VR technology is just still not realistic for the public schools yet. It is too complex and especially expensive to implement. Second, looking at the high hesitation with which schools implement digital technology, I assume the Metaverse will fare even worse than common technology such as laptops and tablets. Nonetheless, I am positive that the Metaverse and combining it with VR devices will be an important step in the future to bring education and teaching quality to the next level – of course effective strategies have to be formulized specifically for this new technology.

What do you think? Is the use of the Metaverse and VR technology a step into the right direction when it comes to education? Will it increase the overall quality of our educational systems?

References

Brown, D. (2021, August 30). What is the ‘metaverse’? Facebook says it’s the future of the Internet. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/08/30/what-is-the-metaverse/

Jensen, M., & Forbes Technology Council. (2022, August 24). The Accessibility And Affordability Of The Metaverse In Education Right Now. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2022/08/24/the-accessibility-and-affordability-of-the-metaverse-in-education-right-now/?sh=6eae95017f8f

Lee, L.-H., Braud, T., Zhou, P., Wang, L., Xu, D., Lin, Z., Kumar, A., Bermejo, C., & Hui, P. (2021). All One Needs to Know about Metaverse: A Complete Survey on Technological Singularity, Virtual Ecosystem, and Research Agenda. http://arxiv.org/abs/2110.05352

Momtaz, P. P. (2022). Some Very Simple Economics of Web3 and the Metaverse. FinTech, 1(3), 225–234. https://doi.org/10.3390/fintech1030018

Ragav, A., Noen, K., Lindahl, M., & Dohler, M. (2022, August 17). Metaverse education: from university to metaversity. https://www.ericsson.com/en/blog/2022/8/metaverse-education-from-university-to-metaversity

Suh, W., & Ahn, S. (2022). Utilizing the Metaverse for Learner-Centered Constructivist Education in the Post-Pandemic Era: An Analysis of Elementary School Students. Journal of Intelligence, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence10010017

Is the future of public transport up in the air?

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Using Metaverse and VR to enhance education

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