With an empty driver’s seat, the cars from the German company Vay look a lot like the self-driving taxis that have become popular in several places around the world.
But in contrast to the so-called robot taxis, which drive completely without a driver, Vay’s cars are remote controlled.
Here, real people follow the cars via screens and can thus drive them from an office instead of sitting behind the wheel.
This is written by the AFP news agency from Las Vegas, where the world’s largest electronics fair, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) takes place.
Here, Thomas von der Ohe, who is director and co-founder of Vay, demonstrated the remote control on Tuesday.
In the big city of Las Vegas in California, people have been able to test the solution in the past year, where they order a lift in a car that shows up without the driver being physically present.
Here, they have gone from having two cars available to 30, and 6,000 journeys have been made.
The director explains that with the remote control, Vay can ensure proper safety for the passengers without having to first do “a huge number of simulations”, as would be necessary with a self-driving taxi.
– Our core principle in relation to safety is that the human driver can make the decisions, he says.
Vay can also be content with investing in relatively cheap camera technology, as opposed to the systems that manufacturers of self-driving taxis have to buy, it says.
During the demonstration, it was shown how a driver follows three screens which show the car’s windscreen, side mirrors and rear view mirror. From here, the driver steered the car with a steering wheel and pedals – which, however, are not located in the arrow itself.
According to AFP, the solution enables Vay to offer rides at half the price of larger ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft.
Thomas von der Ohe’s hope is that the company can run with a profit within a year or two.
/ritzau/
Source: www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk
