Not sure if anyone here remembers Pierpaolo Lazzarini of Lazzarini Design, the man behind the adorable Water Jet Capsule from 2013 and “the Shinkansen of the water” SeaJet from last year.
Between Water Jet Capsule and SeaJet, Pierpaolo Lazzarini has designed numerous other-of-this-world concept vehicles and among them are two extremely interesting vehicles, and they are Unidentified Floating Object 2.0 or U.F.O. 2.0 from 2016 and Identified Flying Object or I.F.O from 2017.
The former is a floating structure in the likeness of our traditional notion of U.F.O. i.e. disc or saucer-shaped body. The U.F.O 2.0 was posted by Lazzarini in 2016 and it is described as a futuristic fiberglass floating structure that spans 20 meters (66 feet) across and has a total surface area of 314 square meters (3,380 square feet).
“U.F.O 2.0 is composed of a central shell divided into three different levels: the main living area (80 sq m) with kitchen, storage and bathroom; the sub level (50 sq m) with a seabed view bedroom and large bathroom with a 50 sq.m terrace as an upper deck/floor to control the vehicle.”
The U.F.O. has a number of uses, including a hotel reception, a gym, or a floating restaurant. It is a very intriguing concept but not as intriguing as its flying counterpart. Yes. It even has a flying version which is quite literally a flying saucer.
Though there’s no ion propulsion. Instead, it is a multi-rotor VTOL vehicle. And also, it is not massive like its floating sibling. It measures a fairly compact 4.7 meters in diameter. I.F.O. is a two-seater flying saucer-style drone powered by 8 electric motors each powering a rotor and has a top speed of 120 mph (193 km/h or 104 knots).
There’s no mention of the type and capacity of the battery system but it is said that is capable of “flying autonomously for about 70 minutes.” Batteries are located in the disk and there is an additional battery pack located at the center of the capsule body.
It offers two ways to access the cockpit. It can access by two removable ladders/bridges when docked at a specific landing station, or through an elevator. The latter essentially lowers the cockpit to the ground level. And no, the ladder does not magically appear out of the body like the U.F.Os we saw in the movies and there is no access through teleporting through a light beam.
When landing on a not specific landing station, the vehicle is propped up by multiple legs which fold up under the “saucer” when flying.
Interestingly, the I.F.O. has a parachute that will deploy in an emergency. In such an unfortunate instant, the chute will pop out of the back of the fuselage and the fuselage will separate from the saucer component.
Obviously, I.F.O. did not see production but still, it remains an exciting concept. As for the U.F.O 2.0… we are not aware of the status.
Images: Lazzarini Design.
