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Ford disguised a man as a car seat to research self-driving

techcrunch.com

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Re: Ford disguised a man as a car seat to research self-driving

#81

Post by vanjoe »

mgbmtl wrote: post #50
saalweachter wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An electric car with an empty driver seat sitting at an intersection would be especially bad; when cross the street I would interpret that as a parked car, especially if it was by the curb (for either left or a right on a one-way street). Hopefully the car would be smart enough not to hit me but I don't want to have to start staring deeply at every parked car, trying to intuit if it is a robot about to pull away.

Do like in Canada: all cars must have their headlights on when driving (the lights automatically turn on). edit: also, I feel like if we add new light signals for acceleration, for example, it would be nice to add that to all cars.

Those are daytime running lights. I wish headlights were mandatory, that would eliminate people driving in rainy twilight without lights on.

Re: Ford disguised a man as a car seat to research self-driving

#82

Post by jpindar »

Splines wrote: post #29
josefresco wrote: post #5

"they just needed people to believe wholeheartedly they were using one." Don't they mean "seeing one" instead of "using one"? Or am I missing something? "fill in gaps where we currently communicate via subtle gestures, eye contact and other less obvious mechanisms." This also struck me as odd - do pedestrians and other drivers really make "eye contact" with drivers to gauge their intention? I guess it's possible, but…

> do pedestrians and other drivers really make "eye contact" with drivers to gauge their intention? I certainly do - most commonly when merging into a congested lane from a side street, stopping and making eye contact helps understand if everybody is paying attention (the merger can move forward and the merged is leaving a space open for them). Motorcyclists also have a pretty large vocabulary (I'm not sure how many…

Most of those are used when riding with a club or other group who know each other.

Re: Ford disguised a man as a car seat to research self-driving

#83

Post by [deleted] »

agumonkey wrote: post #33
michaelbuckbee wrote: post #8

It sounds goofy, but this strikes me as really clever. Compared to almost anything else with self driving cars adding a few indicators to outwardly show what it's going to do next (for pedestrians and other drivers) is a huge win. There is a fair amount of waving for someone else to go first at a turn, seeing if a driver is distracted (on their phone) at a stop, making eye contact while using a cross walk etc that ge…

* SPOILER * That's how they made Knight Rider "driverless" scenes ( http://www.knightriderarchives.com/knight_rider/season_one/g... <= can't find a clear shot, but if you find episodes online, it's pretty easy to see the double depth seat and raised up armrests)

[deleted]

Re: Ford disguised a man as a car seat to research self-driving

#84

Post by takeda »

unkown-unknowns wrote: post #14
shangxiao wrote: post #4

A reporter apparently tried to talk to one of the drivers and they refused to acknowledge his presence: https://twitter.com/AdamTuss/status/894627339891609602

What an annoying reporter

I only heard him for 30 seconds and I already hate his guts.

Re: Ford disguised a man as a car seat to research self-driving

#87

Post by manmal »

foota wrote: post #85

This article confused me a lot more before I realized Ford meant the company, not the individual.

Interestingly, it was the same for me. I was really confused for a few seconds until "self-driving" sank in and it became clear that Henry Fore could not have been alive for that.

Re: Ford disguised a man as a car seat to research self-driving

#88

Post by kpil »

MrMember wrote: post #28
uxp100 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> do pedestrians [...] really make "eye contact" with drivers to gauge their intention? Yes. Consciously, at every vehicle at an intersection, to make sure they aren't going to run me over. Same on a bike. Other drivers? IDK, its harder through 2 windshields.

I do it all the time whether I'm walking, in a car, or on my motorcycle. If I look at them and see them looking at me it raises my confidence that they see me.

I've been given a ride in the passenger seat of a RHD car in a RHT country, ie the steering wheel is on the "wrong" side.

It's actually quite stressful before the driver (hopefully) stops at a zebra crossing after you accidentally caught eye contact with a waiting pedestrian staring at you.

The best strategy is to just look down, but that feels a bit stupid too when the pedestrians are clearly looking at you.

Re: Ford disguised a man as a car seat to research self-driving

#90

Post by Bjartr »

mikestew wrote: post #36
josefresco wrote: post #5

"they just needed people to believe wholeheartedly they were using one." Don't they mean "seeing one" instead of "using one"? Or am I missing something? "fill in gaps where we currently communicate via subtle gestures, eye contact and other less obvious mechanisms." This also struck me as odd - do pedestrians and other drivers really make "eye contact" with drivers to gauge their intention? I guess it's possible, but…

do pedestrians and other drivers really make "eye contact" with drivers to gauge their intention? They do, and it's even advised by some. But I'm here to tell you that the eyes lie. I've had people look me directly in the eye and still pull out in front of me. Look at the wheels. The wheels will always tell you what the vehicle is going to do.

> Look at the wheels. The wheels will always tell you what the vehicle is going to do.

This is exactly what I do, it's really obvious when the rim are rotating, even at very low speeds.

Can't say I look people in the eyes much while driving.

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