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Why Google Made Its Self-Driving Car So Darn Cute

techcrunch.com

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Re: Why Google Made Its Self-Driving Car So Darn Cute

#41

Post by prawn »

cliveowen wrote: post #10
akumen wrote: post #6

Cute? Personally, I think it is fugly.

Agreed, and that enormous thing on the roof just shouldn't be there. "Google plans to build 100 to 200 of these prototypes, and work towards safety approval by the end of the year. The future’s coming a lot faster than we thought." If this is the future I hope there will be time travel, so I can go back.

Does the signalling and branding on top of current taxis have you turn to your time travel device rather than just get inside and give the driver your destination?

Re: Why Google Made Its Self-Driving Car So Darn Cute

#43

Post by Aardwolf »

jmpeax wrote: post #17

Being a programmer, a sci-fi fan, and always excited by new developments even from a young age, I thought I'd never reach a time where I would find it difficult to accept new technology. Clones, immortality, interstellar travel, tech-enabled telepathy, bring it on. I now realise that sitting in a self-driving car will cause me to press on the ghost brake pedal while sweating with anxiety every time it needs to slow d…

I don't really like driving. I like it on an empty road, but it just never is. I, for one, look forward to being driven by computers :)

Re: Why Google Made Its Self-Driving Car So Darn Cute

#44

Post by roganartu »

annnnd wrote: post #19
jmpeax wrote: post #17

Being a programmer, a sci-fi fan, and always excited by new developments even from a young age, I thought I'd never reach a time where I would find it difficult to accept new technology. Clones, immortality, interstellar travel, tech-enabled telepathy, bring it on. I now realise that sitting in a self-driving car will cause me to press on the ghost brake pedal while sweating with anxiety every time it needs to slow d…

> I now realise that sitting in a self-driving car will cause me to press on the ghost brake pedal while sweating with anxiety No it won't. :) In next versions you will probably not be facing the road anyway. Do you "ghost brake" when driving in the back of a limousine?

I understand that facing backwards is safer in a head-on collision but a lot of people suffer from motion sickness (myself included).

It has a lot to do with ability to see where you are going and hence predict/be aware of the vehicles movements. To put the extent of this in perspective, I am noticibly more likely to feel motion sick sitting in the back seat compared to sitting in the front seat. This effect is reduced by sitting in the middle, where there are no seats/people obscuring your view. Additionally sitting in any seat except the drivers seat while travelling on windy mountain roads is a surefire way to bring up lunch. Reading while in a car is completely out of the question.

Comfort should be a consideration of any type of transport and the thought of facing backwards in a car makes me uncomfortable. While this shouldn't outweigh safety, it certainly shouldn't be ignored either.

Re: Why Google Made Its Self-Driving Car So Darn Cute

#45

Post by toxican »

Every time a self-driving car story pops up, I think of Rush's Red Barchetta. I have a sinking feeling we're eventually going to get to a point where traditional cars are completely outlawed. I definitely would love to be driven to work every morning, but I know I'd miss having the option to drive myself with the windows down. Driving can be fun!

Re: Why Google Made Its Self-Driving Car So Darn Cute

#46

Post by lars512 »

toxican wrote: post #45

Every time a self-driving car story pops up, I think of Rush's Red Barchetta. I have a sinking feeling we're eventually going to get to a point where traditional cars are completely outlawed. I definitely would love to be driven to work every morning, but I know I'd miss having the option to drive myself with the windows down. Driving can be fun!

I'm sure they'll have historical districts where you can rent an old time car and drive manually on weekends, with the appropriate waivers and insurance forms signed :)

Re: Why Google Made Its Self-Driving Car So Darn Cute

#47

Post by Retric »

toxican wrote: post #45

Every time a self-driving car story pops up, I think of Rush's Red Barchetta. I have a sinking feeling we're eventually going to get to a point where traditional cars are completely outlawed. I definitely would love to be driven to work every morning, but I know I'd miss having the option to drive myself with the windows down. Driving can be fun!

You can still ride a horse just not on public roads. I expect driving to be no different.

Re: Why Google Made Its Self-Driving Car So Darn Cute

#49

Post by dmd »

swombat wrote: post #25
annnnd wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I now realise that sitting in a self-driving car will cause me to press on the ghost brake pedal while sweating with anxiety No it won't. :) In next versions you will probably not be facing the road anyway. Do you "ghost brake" when driving in the back of a limousine?

Do you "ghost brake" when driving in the back of a limousine? Yep. I'm frequently uncomfortable when someone else is driving. There's a handful of people in the world who don't make me uncomfortable when driving... my parents, a few friends who drive "safely"... Oh, and taxi drivers (where somehow my lizard brain appreciates that though I am not in control, the creature that IS in control has 100+ times more experien…

> the creature that IS in control has 100+ times more experience of driving than me, and is therefore unarguably a better driver

Bingo. A self-driving car will have millions or billions of times more experience driving than you.

Re: Why Google Made Its Self-Driving Car So Darn Cute

#50

Post by shiven »

tcwatrous wrote: post #40
shiven wrote: post #30

A future with no taxis! No Lyft or Uber either. Less and less humans tied up doing work that can be done by a "bash script"[0]. I look forward to this! [0] Or highly advanced AI for that matter. Same final impact.

What makes you think you won't be calling a self driving car to pick you up on the Uber app?

I'd love for that to happen! But I always thought Uber/Lyft's equation worked only due to idle cars and underemployed humans, at least in a large part?
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