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This is Steve. 95 per cent of his vision is gone, yet he’s driving a car. Except he’s not really driving it; he’s behind the wheel of Google’s driverless car.
Google’s self-driving car has now completed 200,000 miles of computer-led driving. Steve was part of that testing and loved it:
Here’s Steve, who joined us for a special drive on a carefully programmed route to experience being behind the wheel in a whole new way. We organized this test as a technical experiment, but we think it’s also a promising look at what autonomous technology may one day deliver if rigorous technology and safety standards can be met.
Soon, these cars will free many people to do something that was unthinkable for them. And then imagine the lives that smart, interconnected cars will save. Be happy, my friends, because we live in a world of wonders.
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Shut up and take my money.
its pretty amazing stuff, i remember seeing this before (on top gear?) and i was sceptical about its day to day use, but, by all means colour me impressed, looks truly awesome
This is really cool stuff. What would help is a bit of ‘balanced’ reporting when this tech becomes more available. What I’m talking about is at the moment we have about 2000 road deaths a year in the UK. Without autodrive. When (not if; when) someone is killed due to either tech failure or even the other drivers fault, let’s hope the media can keep it all in perspective and not start producing “KILLER CARS!!!” headlines.
I doubt it would stop the tech’s progress but it sure could slow it down. I want my auto-drive car NOW!
This is very true and unfortunately a very predictable response by the media. I would speculate that most crashes are due to driver error – removing the driver would probably reduce this danger. Additionally, self-driven cars are far more predictable than human drivers and wouldn’t do things like pull out in front of you because they’re in a rush.
The biggest benefit of this would be minimising congestion too – most of which is caused by eratic acceleration and braking by humans.
I guess what I’m saying is give us these and our driving woes would be solved!
Awesome, although it doesn’t look like it can park very well yet
Give it a chance, it’s still in beta, they will improve the skill level from “Woman Driver” to “Man Driver” eventually. Then it will be able to park, but unable to ask directions.
The robotic women in my office took offense to your remark. I told them to go make me a sandwich
Did you have to use sudo ? http://xkcd.com/149/
>>”Invalid command”
>_
yes! yes! yes! the future is here.
Driverless cars are potential game changers for so many people. They’re also disruptive because they liberate us from driving jobs and call into question the very premise of being a car owner.
It’s game over for driving test instructors, DVLA paper pushers, insurance providers, traffic cops, speed camera operators, short haul internal flight operators, couriers and TAXI DRIVERS.
also see:
http://hackaday.com/2012/02/05/build-your-own-self-driving-car/