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What the Future of Self-Driving Cars Might Look Like

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Self-driving cars – long the dream of science fiction, are closer to reality than you might think. In fact they’ve already traveled more than one million miles along public highways and bi-ways. Still, there are challenges down the road for the self-driving car, including technical, legal, and psychological, as people take their hands off wheel.

GUESTS:

  • Alex Davies – associate editor for WIRED magazine, where heoversees coverage of all things transportation.
  • Edwin Olson – associate professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Michigan. He is currently working with Ford Motor Company on their Next Generation Vehicle Project.
  • Bryant Walker Smith – assistant professor in the School of Law at the University of South Carolina and chair of the Emerging Technology Law Committee of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies.
Learn More

From WIRED: "A Bit of Barf Can Teach Us Lots About Self-Driving Cars"

We do know, however, that when it comes to the car, the best way to avoid getting sick is to take the wheel. Which begs the question: What happens when autonomous cars arrive? Are we all gonna hurl? It’s a small-scale, almost silly concern, but one that’s symptomatic of bigger questions about the coming age of self-driving cars. And it goes to the center of what may be the biggest obstacle to making us comfortable when robots rule the roads: Transferring control over to the car without totally freaking out.

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