Futurama (New York World's Fair)

Bel Geddes assumed that the automobile would be the same type of carrier and still the most common means of transportation in 1960, albeit with increased vehicle use and traffic lanes also capable of much higher speeds.

It prophesied an American utopia regulated by an assortment of cutting-edge technologies: multi-lane highways with remote-controlled semi-automated vehicles (according to Geddes' Magic Motorways, these vehicles are supposed to be equipped with lane centering and lane change/blind spot assist systems), power plants, farms for artificially produced crops, rooftop platforms for individual flying machines, and various gadgets, all intended to make an ideal built environment and ultimately to reform society.

The aerial journey was simulated by an 18-minute ride on a conveyor system, carrying 552 seated spectators at a time, covering a ⅓-mile winding path through the model, along with light, sound, and color effects.

The virtue of this elevated position allowed spectators to see multiple scales simultaneously, viewing city blocks in proportion to a highway system, as well as artificially controlled trees in glass domes.

It was considered highly interesting by the public and critics alike, with journalists competing to find adequate words to convey Bel Geddes' "ingenuity", "daring", "showmanship" and "genius".

[15] Business Week described the scene: More than 30,000 persons daily, the show's capacity, inch along the sizzling pavement in long queues until they reach the chairs which transport them to a tourist's paradise.

[16]His ideas of the future were considered to have a remarkable degree of realism and immediacy, especially for an American audience slowly recovering from the Great Depression and that was longing for prosperity.