“People are leery of self-driving cars. Will they be safe? Will the technology be able to overcome the legal, regulatory and consumer adoption issues that are ahead? Really, it doesn’t matter. About 80 percent of the safety increases can be achieved with the technology that is on the market now for 20 percent of the cost. That translates to saving about 33,000 lives in the U.S. alone.
The best technology is personal. It knows you, your likes and dislikes, the people you know, where you work, where you live. Not in a big brother, robots-taking-over-the-world kind of scenario. It’s more about making technology that works for you, the way you want it. The interface in Delphi’s automated vehicle essentially talks to the driver by sharing what it sees. It can alert the driver to possible road hazards while also letting the driver know there is a Starbucks ahead simply because it knows the driver favors Starbucks.
The first version of Delphi’s automated car was able to ‘see’ pedestrians and cyclists through its sensors. Now, by extending V2E technology from cars and infrastructure to people, the car will also be aware of objects out of sensor range or the driver’s line of sight. One very common scenario is the person who is crossing a road while looking down at his or her phone. If the person isn’t paying attention and it’s unsafe to cross, both the car and the pedestrian get a warning alert that an accident is about to happen if evasive action to avoid it doesn’t happen. This technology can even tell the driver if the pedestrian is wearing headphones.
With Delphi’s first-ever automated car enabled with V2E technology, we can now truly envision a safer, greener and more connected future.”