Self-driven cars to revolutionize road transport in near future

Self-driven cars are going to leap out of the screens of science fiction movies and majorly change the way we travel on the roads within the next 10 years.

That is the belief that Brad Templeton, who occupies the Networks and Computing chair at Singularity University, expressed when he spoke to Xinhua during the Spain Singularity Summit on now here.

Google has already tested a self-drive prototype car, while many car manufacturers are developing their own self-drive technology and, according to Templeton, these developments are on the verge of bearing fruit.

"There are going to be cars on the road this decade," he assured Xinhua, "It's going to start in certain cities where these people want to test out their technology, but then in the next decade they will spread out."

The recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona saw the telecommunications industry showcase its developments in the field, but Templeton sees one major drawback to cars which depend on the mobile network. "You are not going to build a car that depends on the cellphone network for you to be able to drive...that would be pretty crazy," he said.

"I think we can all understand, the cellphone network works OK, but you are not going to bet your life on it. This is something you do have to bet your life on and so the cars have to drive without talking to other cars."

Templeton went on to explain that once the concept of a self-driving car has been accepted, it opens the door for changes way beyond what many imagine when they think of a car: for a start, if the car drives itself, those inside it no longer need to face the way they are travelling.

"It's more like a living room than it is like a car for a lot of people, which can be like your living room or a cafe. It's just another place you might be when you are using your tablet, or using your phone or your laptop and connecting to the world," he said, explaining there are already concepts wherein the seats are turned around.

"I've long been a fan of the idea where people could have a meeting or time with their family and it would be very different from today's driving experience," he continued, adding one very important consideration. Once you have a vehicle which moves independently, this eliminates the need for the traditional 'family car' which you buy, park in your garage, clean, insure, etc.

"It's not a car you buy, it's one you hire like a taxi: you pick up your phone and you say where you need to go and you pay by the kilometer or you pay a monthly fee and so you don't have to buy a car." By extension, if you don't actually buy a car, that means you can request a different kind of vehicle for different kinds of trips, using a single seat car when you travel alone or a bigger vehicle when you travel with family and friends.

"The vehicle will match the trip, so it's good for energy and it's good for congestion on the roads," he concluded and if he's correct it is just around the corner. Endit