Source: Seevibes
Around a year ago, I wrote a post regarding potential issues with 'self-driving' vehicles. Then, as a follow up complimenting the advances in technology by Tesla, I recanted my initial objections and concerns. Actually, I decided to see where the 'state of autonomous' vehicles were with that post (which can be accessed here). Turns out that Tesla had done a decent job according to the video (less than 5 minutes) in that blog post. Recent events have caused concern though with respect to the ability of our society to handle 'self-driving' vehicles. An example is briefly shown below which provides further detail into the matter at hand: Are autonomous cars ready for us?
In a recent article in 'The New Yorker' titled "At Uber, a New C.E.O. Shifts Gears" the introduction of the new CEO of Uber -- Dara Khosrowshahi -- was profiled. The article was very informative regarding the history of his ascent into the position of CEO of one of the fastest (or was) growing companies out of Silicon Valley. Unfortunately, when the author turned to the subject of 'autonomous' vehicles, the CEO had a very troubling statement regarding the recent loss of life last March shown below:
On March 19th, Uber’s entire self-driving pilot program was put on hold after a test vehicle in Tempe, Arizona, killed a forty-nine-year-old woman named Elaine Herzberg. The next day, Arizona police released a video of the collision. The eerie nighttime footage showed the car gliding into Herzberg at around forty miles an hour as she walked across the street with her bike. The vehicle operator, who was visible in part of the video, glanced down for a few seconds, possibly at the dashboard iPad, and then looked up too late. The operator’s face twisted into an expression of shock. When I reached Khosrowshahi by phone shortly afterward, he seemed disheartened, and disarmed by the intense scrutiny that comes with his new job. He told me that the autonomous division had been working toward offering driverless-car service by the end of the year, and that there would inevitably be “bumps and bruises” along the way. “What happened last week was truly tragic,” he said. “We’ve clearly taken a very, very big step back.” He is closely reëxamining Uber’s work in autonomous vehicles.
Each life is important. For a CEO to remark that way regarding an accident that resulted in the loss of a life is terrible. That person was a human -- 44 year old Elaine Herzberg. Further, the video shows the exact reason why 'autonomous' cars will not be in fashion soon. The reason being that the driver needs to still be ready to take control of the vehicle at any given time. This translates to the average person as follows: Great, I will sit back and check my e-mail, send a few texts, etc....." -- NOT. Take a look at the disturbing video of the accident below:
Do you agree? After viewing the video above of the tragic loss of life of a pedestrian, do you believe that the event equates to 'bumps & bruises' as described by the CEO of Uber in the recent 'New Yorker' article presented above? Is Elaine Herzberg just 'bumps & bruises' for Uber or car manufacturers seeking to add this new feature?
Conclusion...
Self-driving cars or autonomous vehicles have a large amount of testing to be done before becoming mainstream on the highways of the United States. Although, makers and testers of the features might say differently is not of concern. What is of concern is to realize that by offering the ability to have the car/vehicle take control of the driving equates to the driver not paying attention at all. Designers of autonomous features should assume that the driver will not participate at all. Or at the very least consider what the driver's perception is when the feature -- autonomous driving -- is activated. Car companies across the world would be better off engaging with the public and gathering comment on opinions and perspectives on this new feature. The following questions might be of interest to automobile makers before offering this feature:
What does a 'driverless feature mode' mean to you?
What if the added clause is that "at any point in time the driver must be ready to assume full control of the vehicle while in 'driverless feature mode'"?
Answers to these questions along with the expectations of the customers from the designers standpoint and the consumer standpoint would greatly improve the deployment of the new feature in the future. Regardless, tragedies such as the loss of life of 44 year old Elaine Herzberg is unacceptable and should be heavily weighed in the process of designing the new feature in the future.
Related Blog Posts:
Example Of Tesla's Self Driving Car Feature - Video - Amazing!
What Is The World Going To Be Like With Autonomous (Self Driving) Cars?
No comments:
Post a Comment