Night Trains Spark Idea for Self-Driving Pods
Night trains let passengers chat, eat meals and even sleep in a bed as they glide along under the stars.

Now those trains have inspired a design for a self-driving vehicle that could someday let passengers sleep while traveling anywhere a road can take them.

The Swift Pod is named after a type of bird also called a swift — a bird that spends so much time in the air that it can sleep while flying!

The vehicle has been designed by German 3D illustration company Xoio (pronounced "kso-yo").

The company says it loves night trains and the magic of waking up at your destination.

The idea is that travelers would be able to go online to order a Swift Pod, and it would come at the time and place they ask for.

They would be greeted by a vehicle that, from one side, looks almost like a futuristic bicycle, with a door that opens up to reveal two chairs and two beds inside.

But from the top, they'll see that it's actually a three-wheeled vehicle shaped like a triangle — with its middle point not at the front, but on the side, where the heads of the two beds come together.

Xoio also imagines drinks, snacks and a media system as part of the overnight travel experience, with room for bags under the seats and beds.

Driving at night would let travelers be on the road when traffic is low.

And the system would even let people stop at scenic places on the way — so how about stopping to have an early morning cup of coffee in the middle of the Alps?

Of course, whether you'll ever be able to ride in one is still a question — for now, the Swift Pod is only a set of pretty pictures.