German engineering giant , ThyssenKrupp , has adapted magnetic levitation technology used in high - speed trains for a revolutionary elevator design , dubbed " Multi . " The people - mover can travel horizontally or vertically sharing a shaft with several other elevator cabs and proposes to work on a type of hyperloop for commercial applications , doing away with elevator cables altogether . ThyssenKrupp 's key competitors have focused on carbon - fibre elevator cables strong enough to permit taller elevators ( Kone ) and refining technology to manage elevator loads ( crane and Schindler ) . A scaled - down mock - up of Multi is being trialled , with plans to demonstrate a full - scale working prototype later this year .
German engineering giant, ThyssenKrupp, has adapted magnetic levitation technology used in high-speed trains for a revolutionary elevator design, dubbed "Multi." The people-mover can travel horizontally or vertically sharing a shaft with several other elevator cabs and proposes to work on a type of hyperloop for commercial buildings, doing away with elevator cables altogether. ThyssenKrupp's key competitors have focused on carbon-fibre elevator cables strong enough to permit taller shafts (Kone) and refining technology to manage elevator banks (Otis and Schindler). A scaled-down mock-up of Multi is being trialled, with plans to demonstrate a full-size working prototype later this year.