Playboy plays futurologist with new club ideas
Men's magazine and lifestyle brand Playboy has predicted a bold future for space travel, producing a study of what it describes as the first 'Playboy Club in Space' and jumping on a futurology bandwagon that seems very popular at the moment.
Building on the existing Playboy Clubs on Earth, the firm believes that one day we'll all be able to party in space -- and it's come up with some futuristic ideas of how we should be doing it for the March issue.
The concepts may sound far-fetched, but they have been developed in conjunction with Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson's space arm which looks set to make 'tourist' flights above the atmosphere a reality within years.
In the renderings, published online and in the US Playboy magazine, the brand envisions a duel-part superstructure, with artificial gravity in a ring and zero-gravity center.
While attractions such as the restaurant would need to be in an artificial gravity environment, Playboy envisions a zero-gravity club, with trampolines made of webbing on the walls to catch overexcited revellers.
A suite with huge windows facing towards earth will provide the private space, Playboy imagines, while a huge gaming room, with zero-gravity features such as a huge roulette wheel where the player themselves are the zero gravity ball.
The ideas, which join Hugh Hefner's brand of hedonism with Richard Branson's indubitable innovation, may seem far-fetched, but amid the economic gloom and doom, there have been several recent indications that we're looking harder into our crystal balls than ever before for a glimpse at the future.
This week, Britain's BBC launched a new 'Future' site, designed to showcase content focused on future trends in the world's of science, technology, environment and health.
Earlier this month, New Scientist announced the launch of a new digital subsidiary called Arc, which features 'cutting-edge science fiction and forward-looking essays'.
The magazine is available on iPad, Kindle and as a limited print edition.
