Google is innovating so quickly, at this rate we might actually have flying automobiles by the end of 2010.
But in the meantime, how about just a car that drives itself?
You could see this one coming a mile off. Google has itself a self-driving car, and although the technology itself isn’t new, twinned with Google’s Street View and maps data they could have a viable commercial product on their hands.
The cars use video cameras, radar sensors and a laser range finder to navigate roads and around other vehicles. The flux capacitor will be Google’s next addition, no doubt.
The cars send data wirelessly back and forth to Google’s data centers which process the information required.
Of course, it’ll be a couple of years until you look around on the expressway and see empty driver seats.
Google is quick to mention that their cars are always manned, and that safety is the number one priority. That said, their cars have logged over 140,000 driver-less hours – impressive.
Google has the technological clout around the world that other organizations might be lacking to push this issue to the public eye. Will people ever be comfortable with unmanned cars?
