So when mud splashes onto the signs you're car will go schizo and think it just went from New York to Oregon in under a minute.

so you drive over a QR code, your car downloads instructions from the internet and then drives itself to that location? seems ripe for disaster of all varieties.

Yeah, this could never get hacked.

baorao: so you drive over a QR code, your car downloads instructions from the internet and then drives itself to that location? seems ripe for disaster of all varieties.

And a wide variety of great pranks involving QR code loops..

Relatively Obscure: Farnn: So when mud splashes onto the signs you're car will go schizo and think it just went from New York to Oregon in under a minute.

baorao: so you drive over a QR code, your car downloads instructions from the internet and then drives itself to that location? seems ripe for disaster of all varieties.

Somaticasual: And a wide variety of great pranks involving QR code loops..



TFA: Google has been awarded a patent for a driverless car 'landing strip' that contains markings to help the car park [...]

Since when have facts stood in the way of a good cheap headline joke? And on fark?

Relatively Obscure: Farnn: So when mud splashes onto the signs you're car will go schizo and think it just went from New York to Oregon in under a minute.

baorao: so you drive over a QR code, your car downloads instructions from the internet and then drives itself to that location? seems ripe for disaster of all varieties.

Somaticasual: And a wide variety of great pranks involving QR code loops..



TFA: Google has been awarded a patent for a driverless car 'landing strip' that contains markings to help the car park [...]

right, but the QR code would have to be in the roadway for it to be useful. Because if its in the parking spot and I have to drive over it first and then the car parks itself, I've already done 90% of the work. the car is just backing up and putting itself in park. and if the driverless car has to do the same thing what is the QR code doing that existing proximity sensors aren't already doing without going out to the internet?

and best I see this being useful in a multilevel parking garage situation, where you drive over the QR code and your car gets updated on the nearest available spot.

I'm a traffic engineer, and I'm not getting a kick out of this. Does this mean I will have to go out and repaint every parallel parking space (and put down probably 4x the amount of paint) every year to make sure it isn't too faded to allow someone who doesn't know how to parallel park to parallel park?

I saw a much better solution at a conference a few weeks ago. A car would need four (or maybe six) small, cheap cameras to give a 360 degree view. The on-board computer stitches them together plus some Google-maps like satellite imagery to show the driver a video-game like view from above the car.

OK, it's not a self-driving car, but there are some really neat applications out there. Just search for "connected vehicle technology."

Google might also include a hash or encryption, something to say "this QR was released by Google and is legit."

How many of you see stupid punks putting up their own street signs? The bigger risk would be someone rendering them unusable, accidentally or deliberately.

I dunno about anyone else but all I really want from this technology is the neeto roof mounted laser what shows all the cars and obstacles (that reflect light) around you. It seems way safer looking at that screen than trying to use mirrors and what have you.

lewismarktwo: I dunno about anyone else but all I really want from this technology is the neeto roof mounted laser what shows all the cars and obstacles (that reflect light) around you. It seems way safer looking at that screen than trying to use mirrors and what have you.

You can get night-vision with heads-up displays in high-end cars today. You'll start seeing those kind of technologies as costs go down. You should also be able to buy a car in a few years that will do things like tell you when drivers several cars ahead of you are breaking hard (assuming their car also has Connected Vehicles technology).

Still no flying cars, though,

Sooo, the cars will be piloted by Asian women then?

Farnn: So when mud splashes onto the signs you're car will go schizo and think it just went from New York to Oregon in under a minute.

No, you wouldn't have to repaint anything. The patent also specifies embedded RFID tags. Link them together in a network, and your car can figure out where the nearest open spot is to where you want to go, then guide you there and park for you.

incendi: I can't wait for the era of self-driving cars to start. I'm not looking forward to the transitional period, though.

The Blue Screen of Death will take on a whole new meaning.

Party Like It's 1975: I'm a traffic engineer, and I'm not getting a kick out of this. Does this mean I will have to go out and repaint every parallel parking space (and put down probably 4x the amount of paint) every year to make sure it isn't too faded to allow someone who doesn't know how to parallel park to parallel park?

I saw a much better solution at a conference a few weeks ago. A car would need four (or maybe six) small, cheap cameras to give a 360 degree view. The on-board computer stitches them together plus some Google-maps like satellite imagery to show the driver a video-game like view from above the car.

OK, it's not a self-driving car, but there are some really neat applications out there. Just search for "connected vehicle technology."

Some high end luxury cars already have that for parking and maneuvering in tight spaces. Its pretty neat.