Ready the wings, fire up the nachos, and prepare yourself for some daytime drinking. Super Bowl LI is upon us, and whether you’re rooting for the Patriots or the Falcons, this great American pastime is sure to bring plenty of entertaining advertisements during the commercial breaks. As such, just before kickoff, Ford will lead the charge with a new 90-second ad that spotlights a few mobility solutions the brand has in the oven to help make our lives easier. Coinciding with the ad is a new interactive brand experience studio that’s opening up in New York City, which promises a more in-depth look at what Ford imagines the future of transportation will look like.

The studio is called FordHub, and it’s located in the Westfield World Trade Center. Ford hopes the new hub will help it connect with consumers and inspire “imagination and dialogue” about the future of mobility through a variety of activities, exhibits, and interactive displays.

Included is a glimpse at what Ford imagines to be the “City of Tomorrow,” highlighting some of the technologies people might use to get around. There’s also a real-time look at New York’s current transportation status, including traffic info, trains, ferries, and more.

Then there are games like the Last Mile Challenge, which pits attendees against the clock in a virtual race to get from A to B using multiple transportation solutions, and Mustang over Manhattan, wherein participants must virtually build Ford’s famous muscle car on top of the Empire State Building.

Finally, Ford is also announcing the Mobilize New York Challenge, which invites proposals to solve NYC’s transportation problems, with more than $30,000 in cash prizes offered as motivation.

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Why It Matters

These days, there are a lot of automakers out there looking to become a “mobility company.” While the term is rather vague, the idea is the pin down what folks will be using as their primary mode of transportation in 10, 20, 30, or 50 year’s time.

There are a ton of experts out there saying the car as we know it will need to change substantially in the next several decades in order to bend to environmental pressures, political pressures, and quickly growing population numbers, and companies like Ford seem to agree. The proliferation of technology like autonomous drive systems, alternative fuels, and electric vehicles promise sweeping changes in this regard, while also hinting at the possible arrival of new ownership models.

Thus, we have things like FordHub, which takes a stab at predicting what’ll happen when these new technologies take hold in a big way. I can’t help but be reminded of the “World of Tomorrow” and the Futurama that was presented at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Will our present-day predictions hold true, or will they be so grossly off the mark, future generations will look back and roll their eyes at our naiveté?