Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Google's self-driving car takes blind man to Taco Bell
L.A. Times ^ | 03/29/2012 | Salvador Rodriguez

Posted on 06/25/2012 5:53:42 AM PDT by Silentgypsy

Google's self-driving car has fascinated our minds with its technological promise since being introduced in 2010. But yesterday, the self-driving car touched our hearts.

Google posted a video of the self-driving car taking a legally blind man for a spin, showing one of the possibilities and benefits that could come from the technology.

"Where this would change my life is to give me the independence and the flexibility to go to the places I both want to go and need to go when I need to do those things," Steve Mahan says in the video.

The self-driving car takes Mahan to Taco Bell for a quick meal and a dry cleaner to pick up his clothes.

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Food; Local News; Science
KEYWORDS: selfdrivingcar; technology
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-59 last
To: Silentgypsy
"The self-driving car takes Mahan to Taco Bell for a quick meal and a dry cleaner to pick up his clothes."

His trip to the cleaners was due to his previous trip to Taco Bell, skid marks are a bitch to remove.

41 posted on 06/25/2012 8:17:12 AM PDT by PT57A
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pepsi_junkie
If it's anything like ours, it has advanced algorithms to take you through the scariest possible neighborhoods.

We were driving in an unfamiliar part of a big city the other day. We essentially needed to go about ten blocks, take a left and go about ten more blocks to get to our destination. I tried following the GPS’s instructions, but it had us taking a left and then a right every single block which was nearly impossible in heavy traffic. When I zoomed out on it's screen while we were stopped... I saw that it was trying to take us on a diagonal route through the city.

42 posted on 06/25/2012 8:17:12 AM PDT by fireman15 (Check your facts before making ignorant statements.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: 6SJ7

Have to agree. The idea that humans will always have better reaction times than machines is pretty short-sited. A robot guided car can have 360 vision. A persons awareness of their surroundings is very limited.


43 posted on 06/25/2012 8:21:05 AM PDT by BigBobber
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: Axenolith

Thanks for the tips on those 2 books, A. I’m always looking for something *good* to read.


44 posted on 06/25/2012 9:08:06 AM PDT by Carriage Hill (All libs & most dems think that life is just a sponge bath, with a happy ending.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Fresh Wind

at least they can still feel smug and self-righteous while bleeding from the face.


45 posted on 06/25/2012 9:43:48 AM PDT by TurboZamboni (Looting the future to bribe the present)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: q_an_a

I can see this regime giving away ‘free’ self-driving cars, and taxing everyone who chooses to drive themselves.


46 posted on 06/25/2012 9:52:30 AM PDT by JCBreckenridge (Texas, Texas, Whisky)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: ThunderSleeps

Poltergeist infestation is the only possible solution.


47 posted on 06/25/2012 9:56:45 AM PDT by Silentgypsy (If you love your freedom, thank a vet.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: JCBreckenridge

All the Google Motors cars will be routed through the polling places. only NPR will work on the radio.

Tuning in to Rush via alternative means results in a drive off a bridge into a river.


48 posted on 06/25/2012 9:58:57 AM PDT by TurboZamboni (Looting the future to bribe the present)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: Axenolith

Does yours sound very irritated when it says “Recalculating”? It’s like you can expect it to say, “You idiot. You left your brain in your other jacket this morning?”


49 posted on 06/25/2012 9:59:12 AM PDT by Silentgypsy (If you love your freedom, thank a vet.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Fresh Wind

What an interesting site! Thanks.


50 posted on 06/25/2012 10:06:23 AM PDT by Silentgypsy (If you love your freedom, thank a vet.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: carriage_hill

As usual the robots will have already detected the heartbeat of all drivers within 500 yards ~ and will act accordingly.


51 posted on 06/25/2012 11:00:41 AM PDT by muawiyah
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: carriage_hill

As usual the robots will have already detected the heartbeat of all drivers within 500 yards ~ and will act accordingly.


52 posted on 06/25/2012 11:01:00 AM PDT by muawiyah
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Silentgypsy

Can I sue Google if their blind-man’s-car hits me?


53 posted on 06/25/2012 11:11:15 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (The media ignored the 40th anniversary of Bill Ayers' Pentagon bombing but not Watergate. Ask Why.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: nhoward14
Taco Bell hasn’t been attacked by liberals yet.

Aren't they pwned by Hope-Change-Pepsico?


54 posted on 06/25/2012 11:16:05 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (The media ignored the 40th anniversary of Bill Ayers' Pentagon bombing but not Watergate. Ask Why.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: a fool in paradise

Um, I’m no lawyer but I think that you could probably sue. Whether you collect or not is another matter.


55 posted on 06/25/2012 4:13:38 PM PDT by Silentgypsy (If you love your freedom, thank a vet.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: ThunderSleeps

Last weekend, the wife and I attended a small party in the boonies on the Texas/Oklahoma border. I don’t even own a GPS, so of course I used my old school hard copy map book to route myself there.

During the party, I asked some of the other guys what major routes they took to get to our friend’s home, and none of them could tell me, because they’d all relied on GPS to guide them.

What shocked me about that, is I was asking them about the major state highways, not the little back country roads. Not a one of them knew how the hell they got to where they were.


56 posted on 06/25/2012 10:50:03 PM PDT by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: 6SJ7
I’m amazed at the negativity toward new technology by some of the posts.

I suspect what underlies the negativity you're seeing about this particular technology, is that it's yet another attempt to take autonomy and natural sovereignty away from the individual.

Mark my words. In due course, the liberals will find a way to mandate driverless, computer controlled cars for everyone. The taking of individual liberty from the individual, is what drives their fascination and enthusiasm for this technology.

57 posted on 06/25/2012 10:58:41 PM PDT by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: q_an_a
I can see 600,000 elderly (85+) driven cars getting these old folks to the store, the doctor etc. etc. and maybe a good deal safer than the person who owns the car.

Soon followed by a government mandate that ALL citizens relinquish their freedom of transport to the government controlled, driverless automobile system.

It's for your own good, Citizen. Slavery is Freedom, don'tcha know.

58 posted on 06/25/2012 11:03:33 PM PDT by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: BigBobber
A robot guided car can have 360 vision. A persons awareness of their surroundings is very limited.

I just can't wait to turn in my personal, self piloted vehicle for an automated, central computer directed, government approved, technologically advanced, people mover!

Individual liberty is just so yucky and...messy (ick!). You know what I'm sayin', Citizen?

59 posted on 06/25/2012 11:11:50 PM PDT by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-59 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson