Self-driving cars, flying taxis, Hyperloops -- some futurists think at least one, if not all, are possible in just ten years. But the future may not be as rosy as it sounds.
Futurist Peter Shankman says a Hyperloop is desperately needed in the Pittsburgh, Chicago, Ohio region.
"You're looking at an increase of a million trucks a day in that region in the next ten years and without a Hyperloop there's nothing that's gonna save that from 24-hour gridlock."
But Shankman says regulatory approval is dragging behind the technology. Plus, not everyone is as hyped for the high-tech future as he is.
"You're looking at a regular person, in the Midwest or somewhere it's not mainstream, where they're not in the tech sector, they may not be as quick to get into a flying taxi, right off the bat."
Shankman's not sure about flying taxis, but he expects self-driving cars here in the roaring 20s. But there are questions.
"How do auto insurance companies make their money? They make their money on people screwing up. When people are taken out of the equation, what are they going to insure? What happens as people get healthier and we put Nano-bots into our bodies to fix the problems we have and we live to 200-years-old, how do we feed everyone?"
Shankman also points out we count on human-caused car accidents for the majority of organ transplants. What happens when those are greatly reduced or eliminated?