You probably never thought you'd see a real floating house, but the National Geographic channel turned the Pixar fantasy into reality. Just like in the animated film 'Up,' hundreds of balloons were tied to a pointy-roofed yellow house... and it actually lifted off the ground!
The experiment, which took place on an airfield near L.A., broke a world record for "the largest balloon cluster flight ever attempted," according to mymodernmet.com. The house sailed through the sky for over an hour, reaching more than 10,000 feet into the air. Best of all, there were people inside the house while it was suspended!
The gallery shows a few shots from the real floating house project, and in the fall, National Geographic will reveal the entire event on film on a new show called 'How Hard Can it Be?'
Real Floating Houses
National Geographic Brings the 'Up' House to Life
Trend Themes
1. Floating Architecture - Developing homes and other buildings that can float offers the opportunity for unique and sustainable living and workspaces.
2. Experimental Tech - The use of clusters of balloons to make buildings float represents the power of out-of-the-box thinking, providing an opportunity to create even more expansive innovations with experimental technology.
3. Sky High Tourism - Creating unique tourist experiences in the air, such as floating hotels and restaurants, could be an exciting new area for the hospitality industry to explore.
Industry Implications
1. Construction Industry - Developing new materials and building techniques that make it possible to build floating houses and buildings is a disruptive innovation opportunity for the construction industry.
2. Tourism Industry - Exploring the possibility of using balloons in creative ways to offer new and unique air tourism opportunities could be an area of disruptive innovation for the tourism industry.
3. Entertainment Industry - Developing new and unique experiences, such as offering realistic floating houses for rent or hosting floating concerts, could be an area of disruptive innovation for the entertainment industry.