Good points, and I think we mostly agree. If I understand correctly, the idea would rely on building a city from the ground up elsewhere rather than modifying existing cities.
In principle, pods anywhere between shipping container size and coffin size could be warehoused somewhat like cargo, although obviously more safety considerations apply, and you’d need things like supply and air conditioning lines. I wouldn’t want to put up with a small pod unless the VR experience was very good, and it was easy to get out of.
The moving company analogy is interesting because in principle, you could automate the moving process to the point where you only need to rent a space when you’re actually there. That is, a robot system picks up all your stuff, packs it and moves it to storage, etc while you’re off of work, vacation, or wherever—at which point the apartment is immediately sterilized and prepped for the next resident—and you move back in (with all your stuff in analogous places to where you left it) when you come home. Not a particularly simple task, but doesn’t need big infrastructure like moving a whole house.
With regards to RV parks, I’m thinking a metropolitan center could easily use parking garage style buildings to house the RVs indoors in tall buildings. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if these exist already in some cities. It does probably imply lower population density on a volumetric basis than an equivalent apartment complex though, as there’s going to be distance between the vehicles, thick enough floors to drive on, high ceilings for clearance, etc. On the plus side, in an RV park you can easily step out of your vehicle and say hi to the neighbors, so it’s a bit different from being palletized in an automated storage/retrieval warehouse.
Good points, and I think we mostly agree. If I understand correctly, the idea would rely on building a city from the ground up elsewhere rather than modifying existing cities.
In principle, pods anywhere between shipping container size and coffin size could be warehoused somewhat like cargo, although obviously more safety considerations apply, and you’d need things like supply and air conditioning lines. I wouldn’t want to put up with a small pod unless the VR experience was very good, and it was easy to get out of.
The moving company analogy is interesting because in principle, you could automate the moving process to the point where you only need to rent a space when you’re actually there. That is, a robot system picks up all your stuff, packs it and moves it to storage, etc while you’re off of work, vacation, or wherever—at which point the apartment is immediately sterilized and prepped for the next resident—and you move back in (with all your stuff in analogous places to where you left it) when you come home. Not a particularly simple task, but doesn’t need big infrastructure like moving a whole house.
With regards to RV parks, I’m thinking a metropolitan center could easily use parking garage style buildings to house the RVs indoors in tall buildings. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if these exist already in some cities. It does probably imply lower population density on a volumetric basis than an equivalent apartment complex though, as there’s going to be distance between the vehicles, thick enough floors to drive on, high ceilings for clearance, etc. On the plus side, in an RV park you can easily step out of your vehicle and say hi to the neighbors, so it’s a bit different from being palletized in an automated storage/retrieval warehouse.