The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Ahhhh, gotcha. Okay. You were approaching the point from an angle I didn't understand at first
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Google's robot cars pass driving test
- Thread starter shinobi602
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Ahhhh, gotcha. Okay. You were approaching the point from an angle I didn't understand at first
I don't think the "driving enthusiast" crowd is anywhere near as big as you make it sound.
99%* of people drive to get places, nothing else.
*manufactured statistics, but you get the point
Some sure, but in no way all. Public transportation would be much more popular than it is now. Some people like the control they have with driving an automobile and are not going to give it up so easily.
crazygambit
Member
I fully agree, which is why...
I don't want you to.
It's more than offset by the savings in medical costs and destruction caused by traffic accidents.
Cars are more popular than public transportation in some areas simply because they're much more convenient, not because they're more "fun".
It already exists in my city:
http://www.auto-bleue.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5&Itemid=6&lang=fr
People don't like the controlling of the vehicle. People like privacy, speed and mobility, which would remain completely unchanged if the car drove itself.
sans_pants
avec_pénis
public transportation sucks in the majority of places. cars are way more convenient than buses and trains.
are you being serious right now?
I'd have to disagree with this.
Technology advances exponentially. We're entering into an era that will be dominated by AI. We're in the process of transitioning into an automated society. You also have to factor in that as AI continues to advance, that AI will be thinking and developing alongside us, further advancing the speed of which things are developed. The next few decades are going change human civilization more so than the industrial revolution did 150 years ago.
You misunderstand - you wouldn't need your own car. Nobody drives 24/7. You could join some car-share group, 100 cars among 150 people, or something - the car would come pick you up when you needed it, and drop you off wherever - then go and drive the next person wherever they needed it. You could have like, fancy cars in your group share - sign up a week in advance to use it on a particular day - or maybe a van for certain situations, or a moving truck. ETC.
Rubbish King
The gift that keeps on giving
I think this is fucking awesome, yay the human race is doing something other than finding new ways to kill each other
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
This entire project is basically why I'm interested in Google these days
PoweredBySoy
Banned
People like to take their own car (avoid public transportation) for the privacy, getting directly to where you want to go, and for status... none of which would be taken away by self-driven cars. Driving, the pure act of driving, can be both maddening and boring on a daily basis, not to mention dangerous at times.
I still have no idea what you're talking about by driving for the "risk" of it. If you're talking about unlawful driving on public roads, then you're only further helping the inevitability of robotic cars.
Too bad, I am and there's nothing you can do about it!
I was about to ask you that.
Certain personalities like control. Maybe not you but others do.
I agree but it doesn't have to be all the time. The only point I was making was just because there is risk doesn't mean people still don't want to do it. It has noting to do with legality.
Joe Shlabotnik
Banned
Be aware that they way these things work is with a 360 degree all-seeing camera on top, so good luck making it look like it was the robot car's fault.
Do you guys who are nervous about "not being in control" never get in the passenger seats of a car with someone else driving? Or ever take public transportation for anything, ever?
I'd like to think that in 2032-2042 we would live in a real "sci-fi world", but i don't think that's even achievable. We wont walk around the streets with smart human size robots around us with only super modern buildings and everything from the 70s or 80s gone or almost gone.
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
I think the obvious solution is that some roads will be auto and other roads won't, meaning hopefully most "major" streets will be capable of automatic drive, but in mountain terrain, etc. they probably will require manual driving.
Robot driving is totally coming.
Robot driving is totally coming.
PoweredBySoy
Banned
Not when I can burn out some doughnuts with my 400hp V6, YEEEEE-HAAAA!!
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
They'll either make something else illegal or just continue to make it illegal to be drunk in robot cars on the grounds you could theoretically drive the car in non-robot mode.
What the fuck does this mean? I said before, I love driving. I love the power and control it gives me.
I regularly go for a drive with some good music just for the joy of it.
But I also understand that human drivers in day-to-day traffic are utterly incompetent compared to AI drivers in just a few years.
The benefits of automated cars far, far outweigh any downsides, no matter how much the car fanatics will complain.
I'm talking everyday travel times cut in half, zero accidents, zero traffic jams, no road rage, the freedom to do what you want during the drive.
I'd love that even more.
PoweredBySoy
Banned
Agreed. Given the car technology, I would still think there would need to be a ton of infrastructure upgrades as well, and that costs money. Busy cities first, highways... eventually trickling out into the suburbs and rural areas. Even then I'm sure cars would still have some sort of manual override for emergencies.
eso76
Member
no, people like being in control of when and where. if people had a private 'bus' in front of their house ready to leave anytime to go anywhere they'd use it.
if i could just hop in my car and tell it to drive me home after work or anywhere else i would relax on the way. and i really like driving; for example i hate automatic shift in cars, but if the car could do everything by itself and let me surf/sleep/watch tv/ read a book while being transported where i want ? bring it on.
cars will be a lot like small caravans in the future.
crazygambit
Member
No no, I get it. First I thought you meant like a neighborhood thing where they share a car among a few houses, but this faces some of the same problems. Mainly that your need for a car isn't the same at every hour of the day. Much like roads that have to be built to handle the peaks in traffic, such a service would have to do the same. You need a car to go to work and to come back. At that point if you wanna offer a service comparable to actually owning the car (wait time close to 0 and the most efficient route, i.e. no car pooling) you are talking of almost having a 1:1 ratio of cars to people.
At that point it seems better to just own the car. Plus how much do you pay? Per use, per miles used, everyone pays the same? You'd still be better off owning the car. In fact it would be much better to own a car the drives itself versus the car you have now, since you could have it go park at cheaper locations (and it would drop you off right at the door of your work).
I don't really see the value in a service like this to be honest.
Rubbish King
The gift that keeps on giving
Teamed with the augmented reality glasses prototype thing, i want google to be incharge of the world
Same here. I feel similarly about Apple, and the potential they have for changing internet accessibility for example. But yeah, Google doing things like this 'just because they can' is awesome.
Imagine what Apple could accomplish if they went this route.
DjangoReinhardt
Thinks he should have been the one to kill Batman's parents.
Let private enterprise solve that equation. If there is enough demand, then I'm sure entrepreneurs can create driving experiences to meet it on private land.
Rubbish King
The gift that keeps on giving
imagine if microsoft,apple,google, nasa and CERN all got involved and made an avengers type team, just stopped the competition and fused together to make a super group fixed on speeding up technological advancements
As long as it's done intelligently, it's very valuable - not everyone uses cars at particular peak times - all you need to do is organize the groupings so it's most efficient - mix up people who have 9-5 jobs with housewives/husbands who need cards between 10-4. People who work overnight with those who work during the day, in the right situations and with smart sorting algorithms, you could have something like a 1:1.3+ car to person ratio, or better. And like I said, you could have a variety of cars at your disposal as well - want to go camping? Make a note that you need the pickup on a particular weekend.
The payment process would be the least consequential - I'm sure something like 200 dollars a month per person would cover it, and it would probably change depending on the size of the pool of people using the cars - and the quality of the group. Maybe a group with 1minute-10minute wait times for a unscheduled car request would be a tad pricy - and something with 20minute wait time would be cheaper.
ReturnOfTheRAT
Member
I'd love to have a hands on experience with them. Simply seeing them driving around isn't enough.
I don't know why people automatically assume that just because people like to drive sometimes that means they have to want to all the time. People like to drive in certain situations. Listen when people buy cars the status symbol of the model itself isn't the only thing that they crave it's also the sexiness of driving around in it yourself. The feeling of the turbo engine's power and you harnessing that power. Automated road system will become a reality just not the only one.
shinobi602
Member
Regular human-driven cars will remain a thing for hobbyists and motorsports.
They have no place in day to day traffic.
I had not thought about not being able to get drunk in robot cars........
I HATE YOU GRIMACE!
That's it, I'm starting a lobby for the ability for drunken riding being legal in robot cars!
PoweredBySoy
Banned
I'll trust computer drivers over human drivers any day of the week.
In certain situations they will remain in day to day traffic for the foreseeable future. In 200 years well who knows?
I guess I would too.
But in a world where every car is computer controlled for a destination......doesn't it bring up the question of how devastating it would be if someone hacked all the cars for terrorism? Like made a massive accident in the middle of a city, or drove everyone off the Grand Canyon at 120 mph.
ThatObviousUser
ὠαἴÏÏιÏÏÎ¿Ï Ïαá¿Ï εἶ
Fixed.
crazygambit
Member
You need to put more thought into it. Systems like these already exist for renting exotic cars for example and trust me a flat rate does not work. If you use a flat rate the nicer cars would be used up all the time. It would be great for heavy users though, so light users would have to subsidize them. And then you'd be stuck with only heavy users so the costs and prices would have to rise.
At the end of the day I'm not so sure you would save much over owning your own car and why put up with the inconvenience? I'll keep my car thank you very much.
PoweredBySoy
Banned
disappeared
Banned
It'll be at least another decade before our society is comfortable enough with letting a robot drive our kids to school every morning.
Also, I can't help but see images of the Second Renaissance (animatrix).
DjangoReinhardt
Thinks he should have been the one to kill Batman's parents.
These are "problems" with marketing solutions. If this tech delivers, it won't take ad agencies any time at all to convince the vast majority of consumers that manual driving is for lame poor people. Self-driving robot cars pretty much sell themselves.
Maybe a specific car request costs extra? That seems like it would solve that problem easy - a flat rate for regular usage (one that would be cheaper than buying a car yourself + gas) and 20-100 bucks extra depending on the car.
Honestly, it seems tons more convenient (specific cars for specific situations) and easy to deal with than owning a car. If the car service deals with repairs, cleaning and maintenance - that immediately makes it more convenient in my mind.
AdventureMike
Member
In even further contemplation of this, I am just getting even more excited by the idea. Currently I'm in a situation where the girlfriend doesn't drive and I have to pick her up every time.
It would be dope to be able to stay home while I just send my car to go get her and bring her back to my place.
It would be dope to be able to stay home while I just send my car to go get her and bring her back to my place.
Perhaps more importantly, driverless cars = free valet parking for everyone = parking lots can be moved further away from the destination = the death of the vast ground-level parking in front of every store that makes suburban commercial zones difficult to navigate on foot.
It's strange, but one of the more significant long-term effects of the driverless car may be creating more walkable cities.
Keep in min that these lawsuits are mostly between insurance companies. They don't need to convince the general public, they need to convince the insurance industry and the legal system. And those should be vastly more receptive to statistics than random citizens.
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