Ray Kurzweil, the noted inventor, futurist, and Google’s director of engineering, said in a speech at this year’s Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress that self-driving cars are a given in the near future.

He says soon an inexpensive computer will be able to outperform a human at driving.

Google has enough brainiacs like Kurzweil to pull off its vision of a drone-like conveyance with no steering wheel, no pedals, no humans necessary. Disruptors Google, Tesla, and maybe Apple are also angling to be an integral part of transportation future.

“About 33,000 people die on America’s roads every year. Self-driving cars can reduce accident rates,” said Chris Urmson, director of Google’s self-driving car program. […]

Prototype of Rinspeed’s Xchange self-driving car. — credit | Rinspeed

related reading:
Society of Automotive Engineers | main
Society of Automotive Engineers | World Congress

related viewing from the Google self-driving car program:

Google | Behind the Google self-driving car project. Every year 1.2 million people die worldwide in traffic related incidents, and over 90% of those accidents are due to human error. The Google self-driving car team hopes to improve people’s lives by developing fully self-driving technology that can improve road safety and make it easier for people to get around.

Google | Ready for the road. We started designing the world’s first fully self-driving vehicle to transform mobility, making it easier, safer and more enjoyable for everyone to get around. Now we’re ready for the next step of our project. Our prototype vehicles will leave the test track and hit the familiar roads of California, with our safety drivers aboard.

Wikipedia | Google self-driving car
Google | self-driving car program
Google | YouTube channel: self-driving car program

related viewing from Rinspeed:

Rinspeed | The Rinspeed Xchange is a new concept of an autonomous vehicle based on the Tesla model S.

related reading:
Rinspeed | main