Latest from Google's lab: Self-driving Cars

The Official Google Blog yesterday announced in a post titled 'What we're driving at'. That they had been street-testing their latest invention- Artificially intelligent cars that need no human driver.

The blog says that Google researched the technology in a bid to "help prevent traffic accidents, free up people’s time and reduce carbon emissions by fundamentally changing car use". However, people from the Google team say that it will be at least eight years before this technology will be ready for mass market. Nevertheless, Google has definitely taken the lead on the market by becoming an early innovator of this futuristic concept.

Google seems to have been testing these automated cars, which are modified Toyota Priuses, for some time- they claim that their self-driving cars have already logged over 140,000 miles. As for the security measures taken during tests on the road, the cars are always manned with a trained safety driver who can take over in case things go messy.

Once fully developed, this technology will probably decrease the rate of road accidents(since people won't drive drunk; breath analyzers,then , will probably become an obsolete technology!!). Besides that, Google's interests in this new venture indicates, more or less, what the future holds for us. So, if you do happen to make a time machine, please do check on this technology(and don't forget to inform us :) ).

You might also find the write up on Gizmodo useful- http://gizmodo.com/5659935/google-is-road-testing-cars-that-drive-themselves