Two new revolutionary concepts are shaking up the hospitality industry with autonomous vehicles set to play a big role in hotel rooms of the future.

The two ideas were shortlisted from several entries competing for top honours at the Radical Innovation competition, which seeks radical but plausible proposals for new hospitality environments from professional architects and students.

Real estate developer and competition founder John Hardy recently presented the two new hotel concepts based on autonomous vehicle travel and focussed on long distance travellers.

The first concept by Aprilli Design Studio from Los Angeles is based on a compact self-contained hotel suite on wheels, which is completely equipped with a bed and washroom.

Travellers can simply board the ‘Autonomous Travel Suite’ and work on the road without making stops anywhere till they get to their destination where the unit will dock in a tower-like structure. The Autonomous Travel Suite represents a new mode of travel, and combines a hotel room with a personal rental car.

The winners in the student category, Cracow University of Technology graduate students Daniel Czyszczoń and Michał Witalis, conceptualised a mobile hotel room – a bus-sized suite containing a full-size bed, storage space for luggage, cabinets and a bathroom, which meets travellers at the airport.

While these concepts may read like fiction, Hardy explains that the judges look for a balance of radical and practical, selecting only those proposals that can be implemented in 3-5 years.

Past finalists include Snoozebox, which provides sleeping quarters at festivals and concert venues and is now operational; and 2015 winner, the Amsterdam-based hybrid home-office hotel Zoku, which is very popular within the global business traveller segment.