For those who often travel from places to places, it might be useful to combine the function of both a capsule hotel and a railway network.
How this works, is that you position a capsule hotel next to a railway or mass transportation network. Normally it function as a normal capsule hotel that can be rented.
But at a touch of a button, the capsule can be loaded with you inside, onto a truck, rail, airplane etc... and automatically transported to the next capsule hotel facility. For a little extra cost, you could hire an automated car that will transport your capsule directly to a particular street, rather than the next capsule hotel.
This would essentially allow for seamless transportation of passenger while they are sleeping or working in the transported capsule.
----
E.g. A business man could hop in the capsule to sleep, and it will be automagically transport him over a railway network, to be loaded on an airport, flying to another location. Where his pod will be loaded to an automated car that drives him right outside the next meeting.
---
Pros: Seamless Transportation
Cons: Ending up in the middle of a warzone because some hacker decided to command your pod to relocate in the middle of ISIS territory in Syria (rather than ISIS Wallet business meeting)-- mofosyne, Nov 29 2014 Airplane Stowaway May Have Survived in 'Suspended Animation' http://www.livescie...urvived-flight.htmlMaybe something like this, but reproducible? [mofosyne, Nov 29 2014] Science behind the big sleep http://www.bbc.com/...ehind-the-big-sleepLowering your body temperature slows your metabolic activity, about 5–7% for every degree dropped. [mofosyne, Nov 29 2014] Like this? Overnighters [pocmloc, Nov 29 2014] Homeless Vehicle Project http://www.designbo...archi/wodiczko.htmlPerhaps you have seen this project from 90s of creating capsules for homeless in NY to sleep in and work from. [Bezdomny, Nov 29 2014] Similar to this? Round_20Trip_20Train_20Ride_20Hotel [hippo, Dec 02 2014] Just don't get sick. Vomiting in a bed traveling at highway speeds with no windows and being trapped in the aftermath isn't going to be pretty.
Can i go to the bathroom? no it is no longer down the hall.
Can i get something to eat? to drink? to smoke ? no
i like it.-- popbottle, Nov 29 2014 Perhaps we can induce some sort of cryonic stasis? Or a human hibernation state? Refer to link about "Suspended Animation" of a Stowaway.
Or at the very least reduce the number of toilet trips and food you need, by reducing the temperature somewhat.-- mofosyne, Nov 29 2014 Couldn't you just mail yourself? The fed ex/ups infrastructure already exists.-- bs0u0155, Nov 30 2014 I really don't understand why this (and the concept of mailing people complete with the supplies they need to stay alive) hasn't taken off already.-- Voice, Dec 01 2014 I don't see why these can't be arranged on the train to allow for occupants to climb out and use the facilities.
My first impression was that this would allow for packing more people into a plane or train, but it looks like a typical capsule takes up more volume than a single seat (at least the way most airlines pack them in). Now if the occupants could stand some real claustrophobia in a box 18" high and 24" wide, you might get some cost savings... I guess even without cost savings, there could be convenience factor since you can sleep for real rather than hanging around the airport waiting to board or changing flights/trains.
Oh, and you might need to think about what to do in place of seat belts in an airplane. Maybe just padded walls...-- scad mientist, Dec 01 2014 Just put one of those Japanese vault hotels on wheels and you're all set.-- RayfordSteele, Dec 02 2014 random, halfbakery