Today most of the time you fly it is likely that a computer is actually flying the plane, and it actually feels pretty good. Landings are smoother than the ones where a human pilot is at the yoke…

Technology is progressing rapidly and in a few more years, let’s say next decade, we may be sitting in the back seat of our car, letting a computer do the driving.

At least, this is what Peter Stone,  a computer science professor at the University of Texas at Austin claims. And to prove it, he shows the result of his research on a car, Marvin, driven by a computer that can manage intersections and negotiate with other cars.

According to Peter, traffic will be smoother and quicker if cars are driven by computers, and more important, it will be safer. A computer does not get distracted and is not in a “hurry”.

To demonstrate the effectiveness of his algorithm he has produced a simulation, shown in the video clip below. Well looking at it I am reminded of the approach to intersection of motorbikes in Hanoi and Saigon, and that doesn’t give me a good feeling.

Looking at the clip I feel very much uneasy at the idea of sitting in the back seat and let the computer take over the wheel. No relaxation at all. But this is today. May be, just may be, in the future I would go along with it.

Tags: autonomous systems

This entry was posted on Friday, February 24th, 2012 at 10:05 pm and is filed under Pervasive Computing & Networking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.