Take me to Taco Bell...and make it snappy Google!

Scenario

The set up goes like this: take the infamous Prius, liase with the Santa Clara Valley Blind Center in San Jose CA, find yourself a 95% vision impaired gentleman volunteer called Steve Mahan, put him behind the wheel, start your noiseless engine, make sure that the Morgan Hill PD safety net is in place and off to Taco Bell for a delicious burrito - roll camera, action...

A word from Google

“We announced our self-driving car project in 2010 to make driving safer, more enjoyable, and more efficient. Having safely completed over 200,000 miles of computer-led driving, we wanted to share one of our favorite moments. Here’s Steve, who joined us for a special drive on a carefully programmed route to experience being behind the wheel in a whole new way. We organized this test as a technical experiment, but we think it’s also a promising look at what autonomous technology may one day deliver if rigorous technology and safety standards can be met.”

Historic perspective

Before giving all kinds of kudos' to Google for their latest 'stunt', let's take a minute to catch up on history, reflecting upon the accomplishments of global pioneers, dating way back to 1977, when the people from the Tsukuba Mechanical Engineering Lab in Japan built the first 'Look Ma No Hands Car' that could go up to 20mph.

And what about the likes of Ernst Dickmanns, who in the early 1980s 'pimped' up, or should I say re-engineered a 5 ton Mercedes van with camera's and other sensors and subsequently manouvred it via comp. commands through the empty streets of Bavaria, Germany, paving the way for Hollywood Hasselhoff's KITT and a generation of young tekkies, dreaming of building their own robotic cars one day (sentiment, sentiment). 

And we can keep on going for days with VaMP - ARGO - The Eureka Prometheus Project - Darpa etc., go ahead Google them :)

So what's your take on this Google experiment? Don't be shy, place a comment, we can take it.