Last year, a futuristic water taxi startup called SeaBubbles first revealed its bold vision to revolutionize urban travel: a network of autonomous, egg-shaped river shuttles equipped with hydrofoils and distributed to cities situated on major waterways around the globe. The idea seemed pretty far out at the time, but now the creators have shared the first images of their first full-scale prototype exclusively with The Verge. And as you can see, this thing literally flies above the surface of the water.
The vessels literally hover inches above the water thanks to a similar physics phenomenon that powers the record-setting Hydroptere sailboat in the air. Alain Thebault and Anders Bringdal, a sailor and windsurfer, respectively, started the company in early 2016 and have already raised €4 million ($4.3 million), with a goal of raising €20–30 million more to implement the full vision. Backers include the founder of drone maker Parrot, Partech Ventures, and the French government-backed BPI fund. The founders are aiming to have over a dozen vessels in the River Seine in Paris by this summer.
In an email, Bringdal explained that the boat seen in the video is their first full-scale prototype, which they use as a test platform to determine the best angle for the foils attached to the hull of the boat so as to precisely calibrate the center of gravity.
“very important to find the best center of gravity”
“We have camera angles to see foil performance,” Bringdal said. “It shows the cavitation limit on the foils and allows us to add fences to them [and] make sure they perform as they should.” He added, “[It’s] very important to find the best center of gravity on a longitudinal way so the boat is working as it should with a driver only and with four passengers in it.”