Without the Steering Wheel

Visualize having a coffee and reading a newspaper whilst commuting at 250km/hr all by yourself. Yep! That will definitely be possible – in a decade’s time. Researchers @ GM’s R&D (Research and Development) Unit said that they predict these driverless cars to be out in around 2018. The plan is to use an inexpensive computer chip and an antenna to link vehicles equipped with radar-based cruise control, lane change warning devices, electronic stability control, satellite global positioning systems and digital maps. It may be a boon for the physically challenged. So what I saw in the movie “i-Robot” is actually factual: People with hands free gadgets: mobiles, cars, doors, computers, machines, etc.

Prototypes are already on the roads and automobile companies are racing each other, like usual, to get their one on the stage. The US Department of Defense even held a race to test these prototypes. About 30 teams each with their ‘Driverless Car’ participated in the contest. Some teams faced an early “knock out” as their vehicle did some serious mistakes: some crashed into buildings while one of them mysteriously pulled into a house’s carport and parked itself.

Duh! All by themselves! Bingo! This is one more drawback on the list: “If the car feels tired, it’ll take a rest, no matter what the owner wants!” Phew, we can’t allow a car to dictate. My friend once told me, ‘If ya keep on adding advanced stuff into the car, it merely becomes a complex box’. Thatz what all the cars are coming down to.

No doubt, no more driving but commanding your vehicle to follow orders will be great, but surely it has its own disadvantages. If they plan to use ‘in-built’ computer systems for these intelligent vehicles, then there may be a possibility of them getting infected with viruses, Trojans, Spyware, etc just like any other present-day computer. And the rest of the surviving “earthlings” will witness the unleashing of a new breed of Hackers: Automobile hackers. I’m sure if they are prepared to come out with these space-age cars, they must hav, at the same time, thought of the anti-virus software too.

Time for Symantec and McAfee to get cracking in going “off the grid” to create the first Anti-virus for Cars. 😉

We have predicted the possible advent of Driverless Cars, So whatz next … Flying Cars or Airplane Cars!