L.A. Auto Show Design Challenge, themed “ROBOCAR 2057″

Every year, one of the most exciting events is the Design Challenge at the Los Angles Auto Show, which will take place, this year, between October 16 and 27. The LA Auto Show is known for bringing some of the most amazing designs in the auto industry, especially with the LA area hosting the most auto manufacturer design studios in the world. Los Angeles is also home to the Art Center College of Design, one of the world’s foremost transportation design institutions where many of today’s leading automotive designers began their careers.

This year, the Design Challenge competition is themed “ROBOCAR 2057″ and the 6 judges will announce the winner. Now let’s see what we have here:

1. Mercedes Benz SilverFlow

Mercedes’ entry is a really shiny concept car which features micro-metallic particles that can be arranged via magnetic fields in many different forms.

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2. Volkswagen Slipstream

The Volkswagen Slipstream was created by Volkswagen’s Californian Design Center and it’s a two-wheeled teardrop shaped vehicle , which is designed to travel in an upright position, this was having only one fifth the size of a traditional vehicle. The concept is equipped with rear fins that slide and allow the rear of the vehicle to float like the tail section of an airplane and this way managing to achieve speeds in excess of 250 mph. The Slipstream is powered by the energy stored in the hyper-efficient solar panels that cover the vehicle.

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3. Mazda Motonari RX

Named after a legendary Japanese warrior Mori Motonari, Mazda’s entry, the Mazda Motonari RX is…is…I don’t know how to explain in words. It’s an alien, for Christ’s sake. And it’s not really a vehicle, but more like a driving suit “which contains millions of microscopic actuators functioning as a haptic envelope. This allows the driver to experience the road psycho-somatically, while receiving electrical stimulation to specific muscle groups.” Creepy!

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4. Audi Virtuea Quattro

Audi’s entry is the a single-seater hydrogen-powered vehicle, the Audi Virtuea Quattro. “Virtuea’s holographic exterior provides a variety of possibilities, allowing you to choose from the most innovative designs from one minute to the next. Your vehicle’s image can now proudly be displayed without any environmental impact, as no physical materials are needed to create your vision, regardless of size.”

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5. GM OnStar Ant

The GM OnStar Ant is…hm..weird. Perhaps the most sophisticated design presented, the Onstar features “Omni-directional propulsion, provided by three independent Nanorb wheel systems, operate as independent robotsand can arrange themselves in different configurations, turning virtually anything into a mobile device. Layered, environmentally friendly, single-walled, carbon-polymer nanocomposites from the flat surface panels, which incorporate the carbon nanotube battery.” Got that?

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6. Honda One to The Power Four

Honda’s design, with its odd name, is a solar-hybrid powered which “allows carpoolers to take advantage of HOV lanes, share commuting costs and once near the passengers’ final destinations, robotically transforms into four separate and unique modes of transportation. Through a combination of gyros, artificial intelligence and molecular engineering, each individual vehicles instinctively reconfigures as a fully functional vehicles.”

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7. Nissan OneOne

And no, you don’t pronounce it Nissan11, but more like Nissan “won-won”. The concept, which combines a car and a pet, features a real time GPS network and it “can take the children safely to school, soccer practice and back home in time for dinner. OneOne takes mobility to a new level using synthetic muscles in its “legs,” it propels itself along by skating, much like you would on a pair of rollerblades. From performance car to city car, it lies down for speed or stands up for better visibility, allowing for more nimble navigation and easier parking.”

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8. Toyota BioMobile Mecha

Toyota’s BioMobile Mecha is a vehicle that uses pollution as an energy source. “It is able to autonomously adapt to its driving environment by utilizing its four nano-laser wheels. Nanotechnology also enables the structure of the vehicles to expand and contract horizontally and vertically to serve as a compact commuter, an aerodynamic performance vehicles and temporary dwelling.”