London:
A US researcher has proposed a robotic car, which would be more
user friendly and have its own voice, eyes, body language, and
an avatar.
Nicholas Pennycooke of the MIT Media Lab asserted that the
car will be able to communicate their intent to the people
around them.
The car could allow people to know it sees them by dilating
it’s LED “pupils” and swivelling its headlights to follow them
as they cross.
Also, it could project a smiley face on its wind screen.
“A car may be perfectly programmed to never hit a person no
matter what,” New Scientist quoted Pennycooke as saying.
Pennycooke demonstrated what such a car might look like. It
comprises working eye-headlights, micro-speakers designed to
send narrowly focused audio messages to pedestrians and human
drivers, and a Microsoft Kinect game sensor to identify when
people pass in front of the car.
“We see this as a jumping off point for others. When they
deploy their autonomous vehicles, they will be considering the
implications of many different real-world situations,” he added.
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