What is an Autonomous Car?

An autonomous car is a vehicle that can guide itself without human conduction. This kind of vehicle has become a concrete reality and may pave the way for future systems where computers take over the art of driving.

An autonomous car is also known as a driverless car, robot car, self-driving car or autonomous vehicle.

Providing freedom for people suffering from disabilities.

For individuals suffering from disabilities, driver-less cars could provide a level of freedom that was previously unobtainable. They  could revolutionize how disabled people get around their communities and travel far from home

Although there has been a wealth of advancements over the last few decades in driving technology for wheelchair users, this doesn’t always extend to individuals with visual impairment and other health issues, which eliminate the possibility of obtaining a driving license.

While previously people living with a disability may have had to rely on carers, family and public transport to get out and about daily, self-driving cars open a new wealth of possibilities. An autonomous vehicle could allow a user to travel further to work, explore areas which aren’t served by public transport and basically organize their own lives, whereas in the past this might not have been possible.

These cars may also provide the ideal solution to disabled parking. Users would simply pull up outside the location of their choice and the car could park itself elsewhere – perfect if all the disabled spots are taken.

Are Autonomous cars safe?

The safety of autonomous vehicles is a worry for many observers. However, Google claims these cars will be even safer than human-driven vehicles, simply due to the lack of human error. Computers will not get tired or distracted and the company claims to have already tested them out on over 300,000 miles of road, without one single incident.

Google has asked a blind person to test its autonomous vehicles. And Microsoft recently released an app called “Seeing AI” that helps visually impaired people better sense and understand the world around them. “Seeing AI” uses machine learning, natural language processing and computer vision to understand the world and describe it in words to the user.

We are thrilled to see these advances in technology.