For some undetermined reason, carmakers have decided humans have had enough with driving their own cars, and it’s time to put a computer in the driver’s seat. And like it or not, they’re apparently close to nailing it.
On Monday, Tesla held its famous investors’ meeting, an event during which the latest advancements and plans in the field of autonomy were presented. As usual after such an event a wealth of additional details surfaced online on Thursday.
Among them, a new video posted on Tesla’s Youtube channel. A two-minutes worth of condensed, no-sound images showing a trip taken by a full self-driving Model 3.
The video starts with the driver setting the destination and engaging Autopilot - this is the only interaction between man and machine for the duration of the video. As soon as the computer calculates the route, the car sets off and enters a secondary road.
From there on, all we see is the scary image of a car driving itself, despite the presence of a human in the driver’s seat. Stoplights, highways, on-ramps, off-ramps, and much more are navigated with ease by the car’s Autopilot.
As said, the video is two minutes long, but the images shown are on fast forward, meaning the drive took longer. Apparently, Tesla believed it might be boring for someone to watch a car drive itself for more than that.
And they're probably right. We imagine it will be boring for drivers of the not so distant future as well.
The human sitting in this particular Tesla does nothing but keep his hands on his knees and his eyes on the road. He could have occupied himself with a tablet, a smartphone, something, but what we see here is probably a driving position regulators will impose for self-driving cars, at least in their infant years.
So no, no tablets. Hands on knees, eyes front and that's it. Imagine taking a 100 mile drive on a highway with nothing else to do.
Among them, a new video posted on Tesla’s Youtube channel. A two-minutes worth of condensed, no-sound images showing a trip taken by a full self-driving Model 3.
The video starts with the driver setting the destination and engaging Autopilot - this is the only interaction between man and machine for the duration of the video. As soon as the computer calculates the route, the car sets off and enters a secondary road.
From there on, all we see is the scary image of a car driving itself, despite the presence of a human in the driver’s seat. Stoplights, highways, on-ramps, off-ramps, and much more are navigated with ease by the car’s Autopilot.
As said, the video is two minutes long, but the images shown are on fast forward, meaning the drive took longer. Apparently, Tesla believed it might be boring for someone to watch a car drive itself for more than that.
And they're probably right. We imagine it will be boring for drivers of the not so distant future as well.
The human sitting in this particular Tesla does nothing but keep his hands on his knees and his eyes on the road. He could have occupied himself with a tablet, a smartphone, something, but what we see here is probably a driving position regulators will impose for self-driving cars, at least in their infant years.
So no, no tablets. Hands on knees, eyes front and that's it. Imagine taking a 100 mile drive on a highway with nothing else to do.