49 Things That Look Like They're From The Year 3000 But Actually Exist Right Now — Just Not In The US
1.Copenhagen has little houses for your dogs to chill in outside grocery stores while you're shopping.
2.In Australia, there are tunnels with lights that move at the speed limit so you can get an idea of your speed and try your best to match the limit.
3.You can rent a sleep pod in the Beijing airport if you've got a long layover.
4.You can also do karaoke at the Beijing airport.
5.This Japanese train has chairs facing out so travelers can enjoy the scenery.
6.There are crosswalks in Singapore where you can request a longer crossing time if you have limited or slow mobility.
7.There's a mall in Prague where you can take a slide down a level instead of an escalator.
8.Toronto has pay-as-you-fill grocery carts. You scan them as you go and then pay right on the cart — then just walk right out of the store!
9.Farmers plant flowers at the ends of their fields in the Netherlands for biodiversity — and also provide a QR code so you can pay for the flowers you pick.
10.This supermarket in Ireland has an evening specifically for people with autism (or anything else that might make them hypersensitive to sound and light).
11.This elevator in Argentina doesn't just tell you the weight limit like any old elevator — it actually shows you how close you are to reaching it.
12.This bathroom in Sweden has lights on each of the doors to indicate if the bathroom is occupied or not.
13.Apparently, there are desserts-only McDonald's in South America, and I'm legitimately mad we don't have them in the US. I bet the Frosty machine's never broken there.
14.Scotland has mobile cinemas.
15.This hotel in China gives out cards to give taxi drivers for when you need to get back.
16.This Parisian hotel shows exactly what languages people at the front desk speak.
17.This UK library has a section for borrowing items like toolkits.
18.In the arrivals area of the Amsterdam airport, there's a machine to print banners so the person you're picking up can easily spot you.
19.The elevators in this Osaka office building light up with little umbrellas if it's raining out, so you know on your way out of work what to expect.
20.Also in Osaka, there are tiles showing which direction is north when you exit a train so you can easily orient yourself.
21.This post office in Vancouver has a fitting room — so if your online shopping haul doesn't fit, you can send it straight back without going home first.
22.There's a restaurant in Prague that delivers drinks by trains.
23.Germany has tiny self-driving buses.
24.Iceland has geothermally heated water pipes under their sidewalks to keep them clear of snow.
25.Denmark has rails for bikers to lean on (along with footrests!) at red lights.
26.Some buses in Madrid have built-in carseats.
27.This Japanese hotel has a heated mirror that won't fog up while you shower.
28.Incheon Airport in Seoul has robots that help you check flight info.
29.Buses in Finland have buttons just to tell the bus driver "thank you" and "good job."
30.In the Netherlands (and Denmark), you can get postage online and just write the codes on the envelope rather than getting a physical stamp.
31.The metro in Copenhagen has buttons for kids to play with to pretend they're driving.
32.There's a train station in Paris where you can use an exercise bike to charge your phone.
33.And in Canada, money has braille on it so blind people can tell which bill it is.
34.Crosswalks in Tokyo have paths specifically made for blind people.
35.There are 3D models of cathedrals next to the actual cathedrals in Poland, so that blind people can experience them, too.
36.This hotel in Switzerland has napkins you can use to hit on people or make friends.
37.In Denmark, many trash cans are angled so that it's easy for bikers to throw stuff away while riding.
38.Bus stops in Paris have a place to charge your phone.
39.This bar in Cape Town uses repurposed kegs as urinals.
40.Hong Kong uses scaffolding made of bamboo.
41.And Amsterdam uses their scaffolding to create images of the building underneath.
42.You can refill your detergent bottle at stores in Czechia.
43.Some McDonald's in Paris use reusable containers.
44.Singapore crosswalks have separate crossing lanes and lights for bikers and pedestrians.
45.Madrid has literally the entirety of Don Quixote on the walls of its metro, so you can read it while you wait.
46.Relatedly, Seoul's subway cars have libraries on board so you can read while traveling.
47.You can literally get socks from vending machines in Korea.
48.And you can get salmon (???) from vending machines in Singapore.
49.And finally, this one may be less functional than the others, but I still just think it's so cool: It's a Korean cafe designed to appear two-dimensional.
