( CNN ) -- Imagine a bicycle that was more than a means to get you to work in the morning , but a personal assistant to boot . It could shield you from oncoming traffic , look up weather conditions in advance , anticipate the road ahead and make adjustments to your journey . Imagine it could also double as smog filter , fit compactly on your bookshelf , and even fly . Okay , so your bicycle wo n't be able to do all those things at once , but hey , any one of those features makes for a pretty cool ride . Want to know what the future will bring ? Read on to see how tomorrow 's bicycles might look . The smog muncher . As a mode of transportation , bikes are about as environmentally friendly as it gets . The Bangkok based Lightfog Creative and Design Company , however , has upped cycling 's already soaring ecological ante with its concept for an air-purifying bike . It has a carbon monoxide and dust filter mounted at the front and the theory is that with the help of a lithium-ion battery , the aluminum frame would use electricity to generate oxygen from an onboard water tank . At the moment , the idea exists solely as artistic renderings ( the company has yet to make a prototype , though one is supposedly in the works ) . Still , the idea shows potential , as evidenced by the fact that it recently won a Red Dot design award . `` Star Wars '' speeder . According to Hollywood 's many depictions of the future , we should all be making our travels via flying car or hover board . While the present-day is irksomely Earth-bound , there was recently a modest nod to the world we 've been promised for decades by the entertainment industry . California-based engineering company Aerofex has created a flying `` hover bike '' that looks like it was plucked from the set of Star Wars . The `` Jedi bike '' floats with the help of ducted fans , and is fairly low-altitude ( soaring up to a maximum 15 feet -- 4.6 meters ) . Read more : The 18 propeller helicopter . The current version is only a proof-of-concept used for development , but Aerofex says it is now working now on a production version . Alas , it is unlikely the bike will ever be available for popular consumption , but will likely be limited to agricultural and humanitarian uses . The smartest bike in the room . First conceived at MIT 's SENSEable City Lab , the Copenhagen Wheel is a wireless device that turns any ordinary bike into an electronic hybrid . The wheel captures energy when the rider is going over easy terrain ( i.e . downhill ) and stores it in a battery pack . Conversely , the saved energy is used to give riders an electronic push when traversing difficult landscapes . The device has a sensor which learns the rider 's individual style , and also anticipates aspects of the ride ahead , including road conditions and carbon monoxide levels . Riders are also able to control the wheel with their smartphones ; they can lock and unlock it , track usage statistics ( including calories burned and elevation climbed ) and select a level of motor assistance . Startup Superpedestrian brought the wheel to the market last month , and has started taking pre-orders for $ 799 . Laser footprint . In the last few years , the number of cyclists on the road has skyrocketed , which is great for many reasons . Unfortunately , the amount of cyclist casualties has risen dramatically as well . To combat the problem , a physics student from Brighton University , in England , invented Blaze , a front-mounted lamp that projects a green laser image five meters in front of a bicycle to let other road users know it is coming . The aim is to help prevent vehicles from turning across a cyclist 's path by increasing his or her `` footprint '' on the road . Watch this : Pinarello 's road racers . Bike in a box . Forget what engineering experts say , according to Dutch manufacturer firm PedalFactory , putting together a bike is about as complicated as making lunch . This month , the company has just started international shipments of the world 's first flat-pack , self-assembly bicycles . `` If you can make a sandwich , you can make a Sandwichbike , '' or so goes the company motto . At â‚¬799.00 ( $ 1,086 ) , the price may seem a bit steep for a bike you build yourself , but then again , all the materials are locally and responsibly sourced , and each bike is tested for weatherproofing for six weeks in a climate control room at an independent wood research institute . The bike comes delivered in a compact box bearing 19 parts made from a combination of beech plywood and aluminum . Supposedly , it can be constructed in as little as 45 minutes .
New technology turns low - tech bicycles into hi - fi machines . A Japanese firm is working on a bicycle that doubles as an air filter . MIT has developed a technology that turns ordinary bikes into electric hybrids . ` ` Blaze '' beams a laser onto the road to improve cycle safety .