Flying taxis, motorcycles and police surveillance robots, multifunctional drones: technological innovations presented at the Gitex show in Dubai reflect the ambition of the city-state to count among the big cities of the future, and to increase its attractiveness.
The undisputed star of the show is the flying taxi project promised for five years from now if, by that time, infrastructure and regulatory issues are resolved.
A first test of the machine was successfully completed on 25 September, but the Dubai Transport Authority (RTA) will have to find answers with Civil Aviation to exploit it commercially.
It will also require facilities on land to fly from one point to another in the city, adapt the engines to the extremely hot climate of the Gulf and solve security issues.
"The project will take five years and we will work with strategic partners to develop the legal framework and infrastructure to make it work," Khaled Abderrahmane Al-Awadi, one of the leaders of RTA, told AFP. .
"The flying taxi is the star of our innovations and I'm sure it will come out," he said.
The machine, equipped with 18 electric motors, was developed by the German firm Volocopter and it sits at the center of the Salon Gitex, which is indeed the main attraction. It has a flight time of 30 minutes and can carry two passengers, while being directed using a smartphone application.
The taxi, which will cost between $ 300,000 to $ 370,000 each, has a system that allows it to land smoothly, said the head of the Transport Authority in response to fears of future customers. Likewise, he will fly at an altitude of about 120 meters, far from the corridors of civil aviation, said Mr. Awadi.
Between Batman and Robocop
The Dubai police, who already use robots to guide tourists, has for its part presented several innovations between Batman and Robocop.
Huda Hussein, a police officer, demonstrated with a smile at the cameras around a Japanese-made motorcycle that looks like the Batman movie machine. "The bike is equipped with eight cameras that detect all kinds of traffic violations. It is driven by an agent, but we are working to make it autonomous and put it into service in 2020, "explained the female officer.
Another futuristic gear presented at the Gitex looks like a motorcycle without motor, with rotors allowing it to fly. Russian-made, the machine, which can fly at five meters altitude for 25 minutes, is still under test and the police is not yet certain of its future use.
"We have not decided yet, but we could use the machine to reach hard-to-reach places, like traffic jams," said another police officer, Ali Ahmed Mohamed.
Another innovation, offered at the show this time in the air transport sector, is a police and customs control in 15 seconds at the airport.
All you have to do is pass under a biometric tunnel to complete the controls and the registration procedure for the boat will be done in the electric taxi that takes the passenger to the airport.
Dubai Airport is one of the world's three busiest airports, with 83.6 million passengers in 2016.
Dubai, home to the tallest tower in the world - Burj Khalifa (828 meters) - is one of the main tourist destinations in the Gulf, with an average of 15 million visitors a year.
This ultra-modern city of 2.5 million - mostly foreigners - is a major business center in the Middle East. It is dotted with hundreds of futuristic-looking towers.