In "Geneva Motor Show: Passengers' view of driverless cars", Russel Hotten reports the experiment of new concept car by the Swiss automotive think tank Risnspeed in Geneva motor show which it have no driver in that car - an automatic car for the next generation. Although risks of accidental events, the luxury driverless car has four swivel seats, an electronic Tesla Model S, well equip interior color design and entertainment system created by extravagance sub-contractors which means that this car would be extremely expensive.
Imagine for the future world that there will be substantial number of driverless car, the one thing that pop in my mind is the way we will live in that world. We will have more time to read, enjoy our meals, have a business conference in car or whatever we want to use time meaningfully. In Bangkok, we all face the terrible traffic jam which consumed us for around 2 hours per day on the road. It would be benefit for drivers that may have time to enjoy their life. This idea could also apply for public transport system such as bus, taxi, or even tuk-tuk in someday. Once I have seen the taxi driver who read the "Rich Dad Poor Dad" book in his car while we were on the street, I think this innovation would help us to be a better man, in the way of self-development or increasing our pleasure.
But we have to wait for some accident tests in the factory before its completion. Also, this concept car extremely expensive for now because of the luxury private jet idea which let the sub-contractors such as Harman, Deutsche Telekom. Straehle and Hess and so forth to work in each piece of the car. So we may think about of our budget in hand and waiting for another car companies to produce the driverless car cheaper than this one. This sounds like an idea of German's Volkswagen in the past that dreamed for the car that everyone can afford, the same concept as the one low-cost airline which has the slogan "Everyone Can Fly. May be they would think about how to make this driverless car fly or dive trough the sea which will make the imagination in the novels come true!
Before that time, we have to learn how to drive by ourselves and this manual skill still necessary in the world of driverless car also. We really want a system to serve us but there is no 100% guarantee that the system will not error. Anyway, driving a driverless car is my dream even if I can't afford it in the near future.
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I'm looking forward to this. I'm sure we will have self-driving cars sooner rather than later. Apart from anything else, computers are generally much better than human beings are pretty much everything, especially mechanical things like driving. Google has been testing self-driving cars for a few years now, and I believe that their safety record is excellent. And it will only get better.
ReplyDeleteI think it will feel a bit weird at first to be in a car that has no obvious driver, but perhaps a dummy driver will do. Once it starts, I think it will grow quickly, and that traffic will be much better and safer as a result.
The question that worries me is whether there will soon be anything left that machines can't do better than human beings can do. What are millions of people going to do when machines can do almost every job better than any human being? And how long might this take to arrive? My guess is probably only about ten years. What do you think?
I guess there would be longer than 10 years that machines will totally be used instead of human workers in workplace. Although the popularity of some machine use in factories like electronic parts factories, however, I think it depends on how much the cost of machine researching compare to the cost of hiring human labors. I guess that the research and development cost is much higher than the workers' wages for now which could delay the replacement of machine in workplace. I think 30 years could be more possible. It would be happen and it just only the timing instead.
DeleteMoreover, when it is occurred, how could we live in the jobless world? Can the machines work for us in every aspects on producing food, clothes, medicines and services? If that's true, maybe that is a kind of the better world we are waiting for. However, according to the world's great experiment like the dynamite, it could be good when we use in the mining industry but could be bad when we use it for terrorism. Also, we should ask that who is the owner of these machines and the machines work "for who?". In my opinion, these two are challenge questions, which we all will face in the future. What do you think about the jobless world?
When I saw the topic, it makes me to remind in the movie name "Minority report". This movie express the design of car in the future that can control in 2 mode(automatic and manuals) , and can controls in every states of driving (because there didn't used wheel. I think it might be some magnet power to control the car for moving) and the special things is it can drive in gravity way! What's comfortable for people to drive it. No traffic jam. No accident (every cars had an automatics security system to stop car) I wish the machinery circles to develop and build some car like in the movie some day.
ReplyDeleteThe another movie I have seen the automatic car is Cloud Atlas. I love this movie very much but this car is much different than what is in the Minority Report. I think the cars in your movie is much more interesting and better than mine. But it seems to me that high technology cars like in your example would take long time to finish. Is it possible to see that car in our life? I'm not sure but when it is done, I will be the one who go to the showroom to test it lol.
DeleteI totally agree with Book and Mim. I just hope that it's work and everybody can use this driverless car soon. We don't have to worry about the time anymore because all cars will run by computer system and choose the best route automatically. Furthermore, it will decrease a car accident and pollution by using alternative energy instead of petrol. If my demand is not too high, I wish to have my own car which is can run on earth and still can transform itself to flow over the ocean as well.
ReplyDeleteAnd fly in the sky? That sounds like a cool option to me.
DeleteAnd airlines business will be stopped once we can afford flying cars! I think the diving one is another option for our sightseeing and vacations as well.
DeleteRegarding Parawee Leowannawat, I'm really impressed by your idea about the car that can run on earth and fly in the sky as well . That would be perfect and could save me form sticking in traffic about 2 hours a day.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Book's post, I totally admire your idea again, as usual. According to your passion about " How can we make the world a better place". In this topic you mentioned about a taxi driver who read the book and you actually think the innovation would help us to be a better person. I have a completely positive idea about using high technology for being a high quality person.
Thank you for your comment. I think we can add some stuff like a coffee maker or refrigerator in that car as well!
DeleteIn order to tackle traffic congestion, in stead of introducing a highly technological car, should we think about urban planning and advanced public transport system as possible key solutions?
ReplyDeletePersonally, i suggest that both things are the another key solutions. For example, as we all see in our city - Bangkok - where lack of the effective urban planing (some may says that Bangkok urban planning is the unplanned plane! or plan not to be planed!) and advanced public transport - even though, BTS is the best and fastest way in this time, but not everyone can effort it - people always face some difficulties while they are commuting and this is the reason that motorbike taxi is very common thing. Moreover, the situation are getting worse after the implementation of first car policy. Also in Mexico City, despite the fact that this city is recognized as the city with the most terrible traffic jams, people still buy more cars - cars is their best choice due to their poor public transport system. So that I might say in extremely term that driverless car (It's a car) is not the answer, but it makes each individual faces the problem alone and it depends on your budget.
My another comment is about the trust of machines and responsibility. Firstly, how we can trust machines because i pretty sure that errors in various kinds always happen and secondly, if some errors - in this context means a accident by using driverless car - happens, who or what will take responsibility - the car owner who don't drive but just sit, the car's company, the car's navigation company, or the car itself?
Your comment is interesting. I usually grab motorbike taxi in order to save time. I agree that urban planning is an another thing that relates with the traffic jam. Not only we have the plan or not but also how to implement it practically. For example, the road nearby my home is so small and everyone know that we should enlarge it for the better traffic solution. But we still not do anything because there will be some who will lose some space of there home, and there are 4 mosques on that road which imams will not allow to do so.
DeleteI totally agree that we should have a better public transport which all people can afford it. But the driverless car doesn't mean that it can't be the solution to solve traffic jam. Both should be well developed in order to solve this problem.
Your idea on the responsibility is very interesting! I guess that the cars' companies would take the responsibility on the program, which the companies have to warrant of cars' program and car owners' should check the program when it has some errors or when the warranty is expired.