Topic: VIDEO: Google's Cutesy Self-Driving Prototype Gets Public Reveal And Test

[Autos_Editor]

Bubble on wheels looks the part compared to Prius, RX

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[mnztr]

what an amazing breakthough this would be, truely revolutionary

[Guy]

Yes, the EV car is still a novelty and now the self driving car is almost here.

I read somewhere that the rate of new breaktrough would keep accelerating with time. It seems to be the case.

[tpl]

^^^ I sorta sense a subtle joke in there.   

[Guy]

No joke, subtle or otherwise.. 

That would be neat to drop kids at school,  people who cannot drive anymore for health reasons, handicapped people, etc..

Again, not the car for a cross country trip but as a city vehicle this could work.

This is just a prototype for proof of concept, the real thing can be quite different.

[aquadorhj]

so cool.

now the highway congestion could be a thing of the past!!

all the a-holes hogging left lane would be gone, all the text-n-not-look-where-u-r-going crowd would be gone, no more i'm-too-important-to-signal !   no more i'm-too-clueless-to-turn-lights-on-at-low-visibility-condition a*holes.

now i can drive 140 eveywhere!!!

[Snowman]

The end is near.

[johngenx]

GAME CHANGER.  Why?  Think of all the people that can be mobile.  Blind, disabled, elderly, and on and on.  You could use them as a part of a mass transit system.  Suppose I get on a high speed rail line to Calgary, arrive, get into a self driving car that drops me off at my meeting, then picks me up at the end, and takes me back to the train station?

Do I want one to replace the Miata?  Of course not!  But, if they're EVs and used in fleets as part of a larger strategy of moving people, they make so, so much sense.  The fact that the car can leave a passenger somewhere and then move to a new location on it's own opens the door to so many possibilities.

[Guy]

Exactly, you do not need to own these things. Reserve trough an app, car show up where and when needed, drop you off where you need to go and you pay per use. More like a taxi than a personal car.

But if you want to buy one for your personal use, you can do that too!

[Northernridge]

My favourite part of this story is that Google made a car. Along with Tesla, the world needs more non-car companies designing, building and selling cars. This is the path to game-changing, category busting and other cliches.

[PJ]

If you want a car that you don't have to drive just call a taxi. 

[mixmanmash]

I can see this putting taxi drivers out of work.

[mmret]

Networked self driving cars. Like 5th element. The solution to congestion problems!

[rrocket]

Car jacking robberies will go up with these for sure...

[PJ]

You people have way too much faith in these working in the real world. Maybe in a carefully staged PR event but day to day with all the variables of the real world ?...  Not for a very long time. 

[tpl]

Networked self driving cars. Like 5th element. The solution to congestion problems!

Remembering that all the traffic lights have to be in the network as well and you probably need good car-to-car so that you get rid of stop signs.  Initially I think it would be quite bewildering to stand and watch a busy intersection like that.  I have a suspicion that if the network architecture is right the rest might not be that difficult...certainly not easy and not a small job.   It might be difficult to keep it working in a snowstorm tho'

[rrocket]

You people have way too much faith in these working in the real world. Maybe in a carefully staged PR event but day to day with all the variables of the real world ?...  Not for a very long time.

2017.  I wouldn't be shocked if before them. 

University of Michigan has a 32 acre "city" on one of their campuses for testing these in real world situations.  It's called the Mobility Transformation Center.  Testing by Bosch, GM, Ford, Google, etc.

It's not just Google sinking money into this...it's everyone.  And much of the recognition imaging has been in use in military for a few years now.  Can tell the difference between similar looking objects.

[PJ]

You people have way too much faith in these working in the real world. Maybe in a carefully staged PR event but day to day with all the variables of the real world ?...  Not for a very long time.

2017.  I wouldn't be shocked if before them. 

University of Michigan has a 32 acre "city" on one of their campuses for testing these in real world situations.  It's called the Mobility Transformation Center.  Testing by Bosch, GM, Ford, Google, etc.

It's not just Google sinking money into this...it's everyone.  And much of the recognition imaging has been in use in military for a few years now.  Can tell the difference between similar looking objects.

2071 is more realistic.   The testing I've seen is far more PR and media based then what is required for a car like this to be released in public.  Not to mention mass produced computers are not reliable enough to be counted on when a seconds pause could result in death. 

[rrocket]

I think for use in the city 2017 is a reality for sure.  The car's speed is limited to 25MPH, so that's definitely a  city car.

[Hannibalsmith]

Agree, this will come fast now and personally I think this provides a great mode of transportation in high density areas. In fact I could see development change as a result of having the ability to unleash an army of self driving cars for mass transport. Very cool!