10/13/2010

google vs. volkswagon…..vw #ftw! ‘come on google, germany already has self-driving taxis!’

Who needs safety drivers? Not Germany’s Freie University, that’s for sure, which has just demonstrated a self-driving taxi to rival Google’s efforts without a soul at the wheel. This laser, radar and sensor-equipped VW Passat, dubbed “Made in Germany,” has a companion iPad app from Appirion to do all the hard work, too — you just start the program, punch in coordinates and wait for the car to extract itself from a nearby parking lot and pick you up from school. Ladies and gents, the future is now. Watch it right after the break.

via Self-driving taxi picks you up at the press of a button (video) — Engadget. Read the rest of this entry »

08/03/2010

Damn, a bus you can drive under?? The USA is slippin…

via engadget.com

China to build ginormous buses that cars can drive under

Seriously, this is the future that China’s envisioning: huge friggin’ buses engulfing smaller cars on the road. Despite the silly picture and the eccentric “3D Express Coach” branding, this cunning project by Shenzhen Huashi Future Car-Parking Equipment actually makes sense. The idea is to make use of the space between regular-size cars and bridges, thus saving construction costs as well as minimizing congestion impact by allowing cars to drive underneath these jumbo buses. Fancy hitching a ride? You better start planning your move to Beijing’s Mentougou district, which is where Huashi will commence building its first 186km of track at year’s end.