While we applaud Ofo for its innovative Minion bikes and princess bikes, it's heartening to know that the bike-sharing giant is moving on to tackle more serious issues – mainly the environment.
At the World Economic Forum, Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde (the man behind the Smog Free Tower) announced an exclusive partnership with ofo and TEZIGN (a leading Chinese design platform) to develop 'Smog Free Bicycles' in China. Bikes that clean the air as you ride? Yes please!
The aim of these vacuum-like bicycles absorb polluted air, clean it, and release the cleaner air back into the environment. Hopefully, the bicycle will provide a healthy and energy friendly solution for urbanites, by combating both traffic congestion and pollution issues in cities.
The project will be developed in China and the Netherlands in the next few months and further details will be released about design and implementation in the autumn. We're not quite saying it's time to ditch your pollution mask in place of a bicycle just yet, but it's a start.