Commentary
Driverless Car Can Meet You In The Driveway
- by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, February 8, 2016
So maybe the idea of driverless cars will start very small.
Like using a smartwatch app to start the car, open the garage door and have the car drive itself out of the garage to meet you.
Then you get in and take over the driving function.
That’s essentially what a new widely reported feature in the new Remote S for Tesla app does from an Apple Watch.
The idea of driverless cars is somewhat controversial, with many complex facets, as we wrote about here last week (Driverless Car? Forget About It. Porsche Says Keep That iPhone In Your Pocket).
Whether marketers love or hate the idea of autonomous driving, there are some very strong feelings on both sides, as we heard from many of you (Driverless Cars? ‘You’ll Have To Pry The Steering Wheel Out Of My Cold Dead Hands).
But in the case of the Tesla car summon feature, the car doesn’t actually go very far, at least in this case.
The first phase of remote car operation was to allow remote communication with the vehicle, for such activities as heating or cooling the car before arriving, flashing lights or sounding a horn when parked or unlocking or locking doors from afar. The vehicle summoning feature was just recently added and demonstrated via smartwatch.
Anyone who watched Super Bowl commercials knows that the ability for a car to automatically stop when a pedestrian crosses is already here. That feature is a basic cost-of-entry to any autonomous driving venture.
But summoning a car over short distances may be where the behavioral aspects develop.
The summon feature’s initial focus was to let the car enter and exit tight spaces autonomously.
But the end result is that the consumer gets to stand and watch how a car can drive itself, presumably without any issues.
Chuck Martin is Editor of the AI & IoT Daily at MediaPost and writes the daily Connected Thinking column. He is a NY Times Business bestselling author and his latest book is “Digital Transformation 3.0” (The New Business-to-Consumer Connections of The Internet of Things.) He is CEO of Net Future Institute and a frequent keynote speaker internationally. Follow him on Twitter @chuckmartin and contact him at Chuck@MediaPost.com.
I can handle this. In fact there's kind of a batmobile coolness to pushing a button and have your vehicle pull up in front of you. All it needs to do is then say, "drive me" (choose your voice).
Yes, Jonathan, very Batman-like indeed!
Why would you need a garage, or even own a car? Couldn't you just command a car to show up and take you where you want to go? One consequence could be more people moving in town and away from suburbs because they don't need that extra car space. "Your" car is stacked in a high-rise garage that you never see.
Change = fear.
Infiniti has adaptive cruise control and lane departure prevention in market that allows a driver to be hands- and feet-free for very long stretches on the highway. Already on the road! And having seen it in action, I'm convinced it makes driving safer, not less so.
One baby step at a time, and we'll all stop resisting the path to the driverless age.
That actually is the future vision of many inthe industry, Jennifer. Obviously has huge implications for car ownership, insurance, mass transportation, marketing, etc.
Right, Tony, but not everyone is ready for this. In the short term, driver assist features like you mentioend and those featured on the Super Bowl are more likely to be the first baby steps.
Cal a Taxi... simpler and cheaper... no insurance, no payments and no worries...
driverless means no one has to own a car, driverless at some point reasults in big brother approving or disapproving where you want to go..driverless is a fairy tale eminating from suilicon valley... hey boys we've f---ed up the adverting biz cars are next.
But, at least in this case Bob, the car owner continues to own and drive the car, just that some features, such as tight parking, are automated.
I've hung back long enough. How pathetic is your life that you can't get your car from a parking tower or grocery store parking lot. You just want the prestige of people watching you watch your car pull up by itself. What about the the mom with a couple of kids and one of those 4 x 4 baby strollers navigating a parking lot and she sees a car coming down the aisle UNMANNED?? Everyone of them would need their diapers changed. Look around, Everybody's 40 pounds overweight , go get your dang car, walk up the parking tower steps and stop with this technology is "best" for us.
I'll give you the warning and safety features, help with warning of our surroundings will help everyone. I've said this already, if you can't be bothered with the responsibility, and enjoyment of driving, live like a New York City resident and use public transportation. Just remember 1-$40-50 car ride includes their gas, their insurance, tires.......................etc and you're free to facebook to your heart's content in the back seat and never once have to worry about who pulled up to the 4-way stop. The funny thing will be when we have driverless cabs driving around a driverless passenger FOR MONEY!! I'll bet the "Service Engine Soon" light will still be on................UNMANNED!!
Thanks for sharing all your thoughts on this, Mark. And great point abot that service engine light (whatever the "engine" of the future is)
This is a tragedy, but makes my point. Today 2 German trains collided head-on with 10 fatalities and near 100 injured. These trains ARE ON TRACKS , not free wheeling and they still hit head on. Here is a quote from the article: "Police said later two black boxes had been recovered from the mangled wreckage near the spa town of Bad Aibling, and said they are being analyzed in hopes of learning how multiple safety measures failed."
http://www.voanews.com/content/germany-train-crash/3182908.html
2 trains, on the same track, not 6 lanes of traffic , with people using on and off-ramps.
Then there is always the chance the electricity goes out at a busy intersection, and we can place all of our trust to that cluster of plastic known as the motherboard to navigate us without accident........................Yep.
Please tell me again WHY UNMANNED Cars are what is best for society!