Utopian Design: The Copenhagen Wheel

One of the main concepts of a design is to solve problems. Most of the objects that are around us are designed to improve our society, objects such as computer, cell-phone, or cars; all of these objects contribute to improve our life in different places such as in information, communication, or transportation. As I surf on the Internet to find a unique utopian design, I have discovered “The Copenhagen Wheel,” designed by Christine Outram and students from SENSEable City Lab at MIT. It is a design that truly aims to improve our society.

(http://senseable.mit.edu/copenhagenwheel/wheel.html)

The Copenhagen Wheel is a wheel that can make a positive impact on the way we live. It can not only boost power, but also keep track of friends, fitness, smog and traffic. What makes this wheel special is that it can transfer human power into battery power; therefore, the wheel helps bikers to bike a longer distance and distribute more powers to the bike without the use of gas and other forms of consumable energy that pollutes our surroundings. In addition, the Wheel can be installed on our preexisting bikes, and it is fast to set up. The Wheel generates electrical energy from the physical power we input while we brake and cycle on the bike. Furthermore, the wheel has a pollution sensing function that tells the bikers real-time environment sensing capabilities including noise and air pollution. Other than the real-time environment sensing, it also contains congestion and road conditions. Moreover, it has another design element in which we can place our Smart phone on the bike and control the Wheel through our phone. From the phone, we can unlock or lock the Wheel, change gears, and select the amount of motor assist. In regards to aesthetics, it is simple and elegant and is different from other electric bikes because all the parts are concealed within the disk. Thus, we don’t have to worry about  appearance.

The Copenhagen Wheel is a revolutionary bicycle wheel design that provides both green and energy saving environment. It is indeed a design that is utopian because it aims to improve our society and to better our environment.