Last month, hundreds of people around the city of Arlington, Virginia were duped into thinking a Ford Transit Connect van was driving itself with nobody behind the wheel. Their startled and confused reactions were captured on video.
It sounds like the hijinks of a prank show, but it was actually a study on self-driving cars.
When you come to a busy four-way stop intersection, it's almost guaranteed somebody will forget who has right-of-way. That's where the friendly hand wave comes in. With a quick gesture, you know who is yielding and who is going. How can a driverless vehicle do that?
Ford and Virginia Tech Transportation Institute teamed up to research ways autonomous cars can communicate to pedestrians and fellow motorists.
"This work is of value not only to vehicle users and manufacturers, but also to anyone who walks, rides or drives alongside autonomous vehicles in the future," said Andy Schaudt, project director of Automated Vehicle Systems at Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. "We are proud to support Ford in developing this important research."
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