The elevator of the future may be just over the horizon thanks to German company ThyssenKrupp. The firm has invented a cable-free elevator (called MULTI) that can go up and down like traditional lifts, but the magnetic motors allow it to go side-to-side, too. The designers speculate that buildings implementing this technology could increase the carrying capacity of existing architecture by as much as 50%. Plus, it looks really neat.

多亏有了德国蒂森克虏伯公司（ThyssenKrupp），未来的电梯已指日可待。目前，这家公司已研发出一款名为MULTI的无缆线式电梯。这种带磁力马达的电梯不仅可以像传统升降电梯那样上下移动，还可以在水平方向上运作。设计者预计，安装这种技术大楼的运载能力将提升50%之多。此外，电梯看上去也让人赏心悦目。

ThyssenKrupp plans to use light-weight materials to build its elevator cars of the future, and the lack of a cable winch will reduce weight as well. The cars wouldn’t just move up and down the elevator shaft like they do now, but would instead go in a loop that allows more cars to sneak in right behind the next. The result is that you might only have to wait 10 seconds for the next one to arrive, rather than wait for the one you just missed to come back down.

蒂森克虏伯公司计划用轻质材料制造这种未来的电梯梯箱。由于没有钢缆绞车，电梯的重量也会减轻。这种电梯梯箱不再拘泥于像现在的电梯那样上下移动，还能够环线运行，于是更多梯箱能紧跟上一班电梯循环移动。这样一来，你或许只需等待十秒钟就能够坐上下一趟，而不必再苦等刚刚错过的电梯回来载你。

The technology backing ThyssenKrupp’s MULTI elevator is very similar to magnetic levitation systems used in high-speed trains. Each car has two magnetic linear motors–one for vertical movement and another for horizontal. This system can also deliver power to the car’s internal lighting and electronics through wireless induction, so no physical tether is needed.

蒂森克虏伯的MULTI电梯采用的技术，与高速列车运用的磁悬浮系统原理非常相似。每一台电梯都配有两个磁力线马达，分别用于垂直和水平运动。通过无线感应，该系统还为电梯内部的照明以及电子产品提供电力，无需再使用物理牵引缆线。

A traditional cable driven elevator has mechanical components that can hold the car in place in the event of a power outage. ThyssenKrupp didn’t go into detail about safety measures in its announcement, but it’s safe to say the magnetic levitation elevator will have some sort of system to hold it in place if the lights go out.

传统缆绳牵引的电梯带有一些机械零件，在断电时可使电梯停在原地。虽然蒂森克虏伯公司在产品的发布声明中并未就安全措施作出详细介绍，不过可以肯定的是，一旦停电也会有某种系统保证磁悬浮电梯能原地不动。

ThyssenKrupp is working on a test tower that will be used to develop the MULTI into a real elevator technology. This should be up and running by 2016, but it will probably take at least a few more years before you get to climb inside a magnetic elevator car.

目前，蒂森克虏伯公司正在开发一座实验塔，用于研发MULTI技术，使之成为现实，预计2016年将能够得以实现。不过，可能至少还需要几年时间，人们才能真正座上磁悬浮电梯。

（翻译：orchismessi 编辑：丁一）