{"id":655899,"date":"2013-05-02T06:46:53","date_gmt":"2013-05-02T10:46:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/betanews.com\/?p=147315"},"modified":"2013-05-02T06:46:53","modified_gmt":"2013-05-02T10:46:53","slug":"googles-self-driving-cars-gather-nearly-1gb-of-sensor-data-every-second-would-you-trust-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/655899","title":{"rendered":"Google\u2019s self-driving cars gather nearly 1GB of sensor data every second — would you trust them?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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While all the press attention is focused on Google Glass<\/a>, there\u2019s another even more life-changing invention continuing to be developed and refined at Google. The company\u2019s self-driving cars have already driven more than 400,000 miles without an accident (there have been two crashes — in the first the Google car was rear-ended at a stop light, and in the second it was being driven by a human).<\/p>\n

Although they won\u2019t likely become commonplace on our roads for another 15 to 20 years, make no mistake, driver-less cars are the future, and will have lots of benefits. Aside from reducing accidents, they\u2019ll be able to travel much faster — no need for speed limits — and give passengers (and we\u2019ll all be passengers) time to do other things. Forget working from home, you\u2019ll be able to work from your car.<\/p>\n

Eventually it will also mean driving under the influence will be a thing of the past, as will road traffic cops.<\/p>\n

Of course it all depends on how well, and how quickly, our governments embrace the idea. Will we see secondary super-fast roads just for driverless cars? Will self-driving vehicles be allowed to drive on regular roads alongside human drivers (certainly that\u2019s the goal)? And will human drivers eventually be outlawed?<\/p>\n

It still seems very much like a science fiction story, but it\u2019s very real, and at the weekend Google dropped an interesting snippet of information. In order to intelligently make decisions, its self-driving cars gather some 750MB of sensor data every second<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In a LinkedIn post<\/a> today, Bill Gross, founder and CEO of Idealab shared an image of what Google\u2019s\u00a0self-driving car “sees” while it is about to make a left turn. He says:<\/p>\n

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It is capturing every single thing that it sees moving — cars, trucks, birds, rolling balls, dropped cigarette butts, and fusing all that together to make its decisions while driving. If it sees a cigarette butt, it knows a person might be creeping out from between cars. If it sees a rolling ball it knows a child might run out from a driveway. I am truly stunned by how impressive an achievement this is. I believe that this is an UNDER-hyped revolution in the making.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He also posted another image from the same set.<\/p>\n

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There\u2019s no question Bill Gross is right. This is an under-hyped revolution in the making, but is it one that drivers will embrace? Maybe in 15-20 years we\u2019ll be so plugged in that we won\u2019t think twice about handing over the keys to a computer chauffeur. But at the moment I think certainly outside of the real gridlocked cities, people like to drive and trust in their own abilities behind the wheel.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re in a car, and you suddenly see an accident up ahead, would you trust a computer — with all its high-tech data gathering sensors — to make the right choice to avoid it, or would you prefer to be the one taking action?<\/p>\n

I\u2019d love to know your thoughts on this subject, so leave your comments below.<\/p>\n