Self-driving car travels from coast to coast in the US

Well, it's one of those futuristic ideas gradually turning into a reality. The 2014 Audi SQ5 fitted by Delphi travelled across 15 states from San Francisco to New York City. Many companies including Google, Mercedes Benz and Tesla have been active in self-driving car research;  many believe this to be the future.

Pending the arrival of self-driving cars, what we actually see in the market right now are advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). ADAS are implemented to aid the driver and ensure safer, better driving. In ADAS, we see cars fitted with sensors, cameras, data networks and communication systems (vehicle-to-vehicle or vehicle-to-infrastructure).  Some ADAS only warn the driver while others go as far as taking control of the system. There are a plethora of ADAS including driver drowsiness detection, forward collision warning, blind spot monitor  and we have even seen movie scenes come to life: BMW i3 parks itself at the touch of a smartwatch .

What this means for you

Are you ready to give up control of your steering?
In recent technologies, we are increasingly seeing a drift towards automation. A greater responsibility being placed on machines. While the driver-less car still has a number of hurdles to cross before becoming commonplace, it is worth keeping an eye on.