Rinspeed’s vision of the future is… a bit odd.
Designed to preview a less-mainstream form of future transport, oddball Swiss manufacturing firm Rinspeed has pulled the wraps off its new concept car, dubbed the Oasis. The autonomous, two-seater city car will be officially unveiled at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show in January next year.
The unconventional styling is sort of what one would expect of a concept car, but it emphasises function over form. For starters, the protruding front end allows for front wheels that can rotate on their own axis, giving the Oasis a microscopic turning circle. The big windscreen you see also features virtual and augmented reality technology, allowing data and illustrations to be placed on or along other objects ahead of the car.
There are some slightly weird features here, too. There are two armchairs in place of conventional car seating, with a steering wheel that strangely features a watch fixed to its centre, with no visible method to remove it. There’s also a sideboard in place of a proper dashboard (kitchen sink nowhere to be seen), a folding steering wheel, a curved screen that stretches the width of the car, hiding a garden behind it. The garden, we believe, comes with soil as standard. We wonder if fertiliser can be specified as an option.
The boss at Rinspeed, Frank Rinderknecht, said that he designed the Oasis with car sharing in mind. The little electric car features functionality that can see it used as a commuter car, a cargo-vehicle, and - with the inclusion of a temperature-controlled, code-protected compartment at the rear - a pizza delivery vehicle.
The Oasis also borders on being annoying. It sports a feature that will alert its owner’s Facebook friends when it’s not being used, so that it can be ‘shared’ during downtime. Rinspeed is quick to say that these features make the Oasis less of a car, and more of a personal assistant.
We're really not sure how we feel about this. More details will follow its official debut at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show next month.
