Something tells us we're on the crest of a huge wave of innovation that could completely change the way we travel by air: Maybe it's the fact that there's a plane powered entirely by solar energy making its way around the world, or that NASA is spearheading a major reboot of its envelope-pushing X-plane program, or perhaps it's the comeback of airships that is leading the charge into the future of flight. Now, a research group out of Switzerland is joining the fray with a concept that could check all the boxes—fitting more people into a single flight without sacrificing comfort, reducing our carbon footprint, catering to our ever-growing need for efficiency and speed—while combining a technology that has been around for a very long time with the latest in aviation research.

Clip-Air, a concept out of the Transportation Center at Switzerland's Federal Polytechnic Institute of Lausanne (EPFL), may appear way too Star Wars-y to be real, but once you break down the components it starts looking a little less far-fetched. Basically, the technology is built around two separate units. The actual flying machine is a fixed-wing aircraft with two long legs that carry the landing gear and create the extra space needed to carry separate capsules. Yes, capsules (stay with me here). The capsules are detachable pods whose interiors are entirely customizable, meaning they can be, for example, a multi-class passenger cabin that you would find on your run-of-the-mill airliner today, an ultra-luxurious First Class-only cabin, or—and this one's important—a hold for cargo. The airframe is able to carry up to three capsules, and could pick up different capsules, and combinations of capsules, depending on the needs of the flight. But this doesn't mean passengers would just board a capsule at an airport and be on their way. The capsules could be fitted—and here's the crazy part—to travel on rails, by road, or on plane. So, theoretically, passengers could make a train-rail connection without ever having to leave their seats—and cargo could function the same way.

Courtesy EPFL

Clip-Air capsules would also be able to be transported by rail.

This might all seem pretty far-fetched—and it is—but not because of the technology. The idea is built around one timeless concept: modularity. The technology that enables the modularity has its roots in the shipping container, an innovation that first changed the cargo industry when it was introduced 60 years ago. The reason shipping containers have by and large remained unchanged since then is because they work so well: A shipment can be moved between a truck, ship, plane, or train, without ever having to unload the cargo. Clip-Air uses the same idea, albeit with with much sleeker designs (and windows), to be able to move people and cargo by air. Plus, it's greener. Clip-Air is experimenting with using alternative energy, like biofuels and liquid hydrogen, but even if fossil fuels are used, Clip-Air would carry a smaller carbon footprint, as one flight with three capsules could carry as many people as three Boeing 737s.

The future could be bright for this technology, but could perhaps be too disruptive to the present-day cargo and aviation industries. There's no reason why airlines couldn't get involved—say, supplying the capsules while an independent operator takes charge of the flying—but that doesn't mean they will. Addison Schonland, founder of Airinsight, an aviation consultancy firm, told CNN that while there is more real-world possibilities for Clip-Air in the cargo industry, it's unlikely we'll see a Singapore Airlines Clip-Air flight anytime soon: "[Clip-Air] would need to compete with proven and well-established technologies, and, frankly, it is dubious whether the market will be ready for such a radical new concept, even in the long term."

The skeptics aren't stopping the Clip-Air team though—they're preparing to build a smaller 10-meter drone prototype soon. While innovations like this take a long time to take hold, we still say go for it. It's these seemingly wacky ideas that push boundaries and change the shape of our skies for good. Jumbo jets are so 20th century.