In 2010, Google announced it's self-driving car project. The company has been working on building cars that rely on laser range finders, radar sensors, and video cameras to navigate the road ahead in order to make driving safe, more efficient, and more accessible. While Google hasn't said yet what they plan on doing with the cars, it should be a good business for them because the cars rely heavily on Google's data centers.
The steering wheel turns automatically, and the vehicle stops for red lights and stop signs. Radar and lasers check for cross-traffic and prevent the vehicle from collisions.
Steve Mahan, a man who only has 95 percent of his vision, recently took the car for a test drive. A Google employee sat next to him with a computer, programming the route to each destination.
"Where this would change my life is to give me the independence and the flexibility to go the places I both want to go and need to go," Mahan said.
Mahan isn't the only person who's life would be drastically affected by the introduction of this self-driving car. Many people who have medical conditions that have kept them off the road in the past will be able to use cars as a means of transportation again.
"There are a lot of hoops that are going to need to be jumped through in the years to come: Things like driver's licenses and regulatory stuff to allow these vehicles to traverse roadways. But the technology is absolutely intriguing," said Eric Bridges, government affairs director for the American Council of the Blind.
I look forward to seeing what this invention will bring in the future. Many other companies, including Lexus and BMW, are working toward building a robotic car as well.
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