Virgin Hyperloop One launches new navigation app
Virgin Hyperloop One, the only company in the world that has built a full-scale hyperloop system, is sharing its vision for a seamless travel experience through the first-ever hyperloop passenger application demo, powered by Here Technologies, a major open location platform company headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and is publicly unveiling its first-generation pod at CES 2018 which opens today (January 9) in Las Vegas, US.
The company had recently secured a $50 million funding from Dubai-based global marine terminal operator DP World and Caspian Venture Capital ahead of its Series C round of funding.
In the first demonstration of the Virgin Hyperloop One passenger experience, the company is showcasing its application designed for real-time, on-demand travel, throughout the transportation ecosystem.
Passengers will be able to plan, book, and pay for a hyperloop journey and other modes of transportation including public, private, and ride-shares using the application, said the company in a statement.
The application is the latest to be released using Here Technologies’ Mobile Software Development Kit for Business which enables detailed location, mapping, and navigation capabilities for 136 countries, public transit information for more than 1,300 cities, and 3D indoor and venue maps.
Virgin Hyperloop One said the application will feature end-to-end route navigation including, for the first time, turn-by-turn indoor walking directions to help passengers negotiate large transit centers, venues, shopping centers, and airports.
Passengers can customise their travel preferences by choosing route example options such as the fastest, cheapest, and greenest. The application will be made available to the public in 2018, it stated.
“Hyperloop is not just about A to B, it’s an end-to-end passenger experience - that means no waiting at any point along the journey,” explained Matt Jones, Virgin Hyperloop One’s senior vice-president Software Engineering.
"Here Technologies shares our vision for optimising travel. We will redefine the passenger experience by offering real time, on demand travel connecting hyperloop, other modes, and even indoor walking directions," noted Jones.
On the new app, Edzard Overbeek, the chief executive of Here Technologies, pointed out that this collaboration demonstrates the future of transportation and mobility.
“Supported by our open location platform, Virgin Hyperloop One is showing how its groundbreaking mode of transportation will be seamlessly integrated into an end-to-end, multimodal travel experience that will redefine all notions of personal mobility,” he stated.
Additionally, the Virgin Hyperloop One XP-1 pod used in recent phase three testing where the company achieved record speeds of 387 km per hour will be unveiled to the public for the first time at the stand of Here Technology in CES.
The Virgin Hyperloop One XP-1 Pod is the first-generation design of the passenger or cargo pod of a Virgin Hyperloop One system. It is the only full-scale pod in the world that, combined with the company’s proprietary electric motor, achieves autonomous high-speed propulsion and levitation in a controlled low-pressure environment.
“We’re giving the public a taste of what a Virgin Hyperloop One experience will be like by publicly unveiling our pod and demonstrating how passengers will experience booking a hyperloop trip from their pocket,” remarked Rob Lloyd, the chief executive of Virgin Hyperloop One.
"Every hardware and software milestone brings us closer to commercializing hyperloop," he added.
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