Name: Daniela Dileto

Module: 5CTA1078
Programme: IMSC: Connections and Perspectives
Title: Driverless cars Innovation driven by
technology companies?
Submission date: 22nd April 2014
Tutors Name: Ivan Phillips, Philippa Jones
Word Count: 1647

In The medium is the Message (Kappleman, 2001). Marshal McLuhan talks about
the medium being anything that extends the human body. McLuhan claims media are
not objects such as the television or the phone but instead are environmetal and social
processes. McLuhan writes The car allows one to travel, just as the foot does only
faster and less effort (Kappleman, 2001). With technology advancing rapidly,
nobody knows exactly what may be invented in next year or in a few years time,
however technology companies such as Google and Samsung are eager to make sure
driverless cars come into action very soon. In fact the companies are so for driverless
cars they are creating their own to prove how they will work. Google and Apple are
enggaged in rivalry to see who can create the first driverless car that can be driven on
the road. The car is becoming a critical battleground for technology companies,
software developers and lastly startups. In no time at all, Internet-connected cars will
present a massive consumer tech market.
A car that can drive itself may sound like science fiction, but car manufacturers and
Google hope to offer this technology by 2018, raising hopes for physically disabled
drivers. The first driverless vehicle the Induct Technology Navia is now on sale.
Driverless cars are increasingly close to becoming an everyday experience. Google
and Apple are racing each other to make the ultimate mobile device, who will win?
According to The Daily Telegraph, GMs chief executive recently announced that all
models from 2015 onwards with 4G chips to provide constant Internet connections
without the need for a smartphone.(Barth, S, 2014.) This could potentially allow
users to make telephone calls straight from the car rather than having to use a
telephone, as well as to search the Internet via the dashboard. Apple has come up with
the idea of a touchscreen dashboard for cars but can distraction be avoided or will it
cause more problems on the roads? They are also currently working with companies
to ensure iOS is integrated into cars (Singh, S, 2014).
But why does Google want people to be sitting in a car that doesnt require their
assistance? A simple theory behind the reason as to why Google are so interested in
driverless cars comes from Antonio Regalado, Google is betting that the more it can
get "drivers" to safely focus less on the road the more time they will spend on their
phones, searching on Google and clicking on ads.(Regalado, A 2013)

This is the same with Apple, if everyone were to be sitting in a car that is driving
itself, individuals are more likely to be surfing the Internet or interacting with the car,
which will help Apple to gain profit gain more money. Driverless cars are full of
profit, as people will be paying for services through the cars and therefore the
companies such as Apple and Google will be able to profit from it and because of this
are competing
Sebastian Thrun has a Ted Talk on driverless cars and mentions how accidents
happen because of human error rather than machine error (Tedstaff, 2011) Thrun
helped Google build their driverless car after losing a close friend in a car accident.
He wants driverless cars to save lives rather than the companies making money while
people arent driving.
There are also other car companies, which are in the race to get their driverless and
autonomous cars on the road. These include Navia, BMW, Nissan, Volvo and Toyota.
BMW has recently developed a fully autonomous 2 Series and 6 Series Gran Coupe
as they compete towards driverless car technology. BMW believes the prototypes will
make a "significant contribution to bringing the vision of accident-free mobility
another step closer to reality." (Burn J, 2014) The driverless cars have the ability to
cruise along the motorway and city streets without any driver input. This shows how
it isnt just technology companies that want driverless cars in action but carmakers
have also joined the trend. Cars now use the internet, GPS systems, and also some
cars are able to park themselves. This brings us closer to the whole idea of driverless
cars.
There is rivalry between both car and technology companies as they compete to have
the best drive in-car information and entertainment. Apple have recently released iOS
for car dashboards, they have called it CarPlay. CarPlay is built around the use of Siri
voice commands and prompts, providing an "eyes-free" experience. This allows the
user to respond to text messages by talking and it also lets Siri read the messages out
so the driver doesnt have to take their eyes off the road. But can distraction be
avoided or will it cause more problems on the roads? A dedicated voice-control
button will be added to the steering wheel of CarPlay-enabled cars. By doing this they
are enabling drivers with iPhones to be able to interact with their phones while they

are driving and save them from crashing. When driverless cars are on the road the
driver will be allowed to go on their phone and navigate through Apples apps rather
than having to interact with their dashboard. The first cars to have CarPlay will be
unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, coming from Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, and
Volvo.
As well as Apple, Google also have done something very similar. At the Consumer
Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 2014, Google revealed their new plan of
allowing car manufacturers to use a version of its open source Android smartphone
operating system. This means that android will power cars dashboard-based
information as well as their entertainment systems. Again this shows the rivalry
between both companies and shows exactly why they want the whole driverless cars
to lift off. (BALLVE, M 2014) "We believe the utility of reducing auto deaths and
idle time in traffic add up to a $200+ billion opportunity in autonomous vehicle
technology," The analyst sees Google as the "best positioned Internet company over
the next ten years" to profit from the technology. (Whitney L, 2013) This shows us
why Google are so interested in having cars that are driverless. They will gain a lot of
money even if they dont make and sell the cars on themselves. With the time
individuals are going to have free in their cars they could be searching things on
websites, watching videos they could be doing anything that is searched on Google
and therefore Google themselves will benefit the most.
Theories that support future technology are about bionic humans and also those who
study them, known as transhumanists. Both of these theorists relate to how future
technology makes humans more machine-like. Transhumanists support the
improvement of human abilities through advanced technology. Transhumanists aim to
overcome human mortality, a goal some believe is achievable by 2045 (Istavan Z,
2014). Michio Kaku is a theoretical physicist who predicted that we would have
millions of chips in all our possessions such as furniture, cars, appliances and clothes;
he also predicted that cars would drive themselves through GPS. This has been
proven through Googles prototype of their driverless car. (Speakers Corner, 2012).
Driverless cars are somewhat transhuman. Cars are known for being driven by
humans but with driverless cars machines are driving humans. As technology grows
the unexpected is happening and cars will soon have no drivers.

Raymond Kurzweil, an American futurist has become well known for his various
predictions of the future within artificial intelligence and the human race. In his book;
The Age of Intelligent Machines (1992) Kurzweil predicted "Cybernetic chauffeurs
can drive cars for humans and can be retrofitted into existing cars. They work by
communicating with other vehicles and with sensors embedded along the roads.
(Wikipedia 2014). This prediction is increasingly growing. Recently Ray Kurzweil
joined Google as chief engineer which is a prestigious job, Google has been at the
forefront of driverless cars recently which shows they have a lot in common already
(Taylor C, 2012). But why has Kurzweil decided to join Google when he is an expert
in artificial intelligence, which believes in the development of computer systems
being able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence.
If driverless cars can get you to a place faster than normal cars, you could well be
content having a job further away from home if for no other reason than that it doesnt
take you more time. According to University of Texas Professor Chandra Bhat,
driverless cars may be bad for the environment(Truman W, 2014). There are three
reasons for this: firstly people will start to want a more comfortable workspace in
their cars and this would undo and perhaps reverse the slow and steady progress
towards smaller vehicles. Secondly since driving will be a less frustrating experience,
people will be willing to work further away from home and lastly driverless cars
would exclude the advantages of public transportation. Driverless cars will make it
less costly for people to travel a far distance, partly because they will be free to do
other things they need to do while travelling, but mainly because of reductions in
travel time as the car will follow traffic signals and choose the quickest route possible.
On a positive note individuals would be able to travel longer distances because they
can sit back and relax or even sleep while the car takes them to their chosen
destination.
Accidents cost both lives and money. The United Nations estimates global losses due
to road traffic injuries at $518 billion and cast the government 1 and 3% of their gross
national product (Kowalski. D, 2013). Hopefully in years to come there will be no
more road accidents and if there are they will not be as severe as they are now. But

are technology companies doing it to save lives or can they see a lot of money coming
their way?
Biblography:
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Tedstaff, 2011. Googles driverless car: Sebastian Thrun on TED.com. Ted, [Online].
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