Huffington Magazine Issue 68 | Page 43

“There are going to be times where the driver has to take over. And that turns out to be by far the most dangerous and totally understudied issue.” how the cars should be designed to ensure the trade-off is done safely. Nass, the simulator’s chief champion, boasts that Stanford’s new tool is unique in its ability to shift instantaneously from fullto zero-automation, and Nass plans to track drivers’ concentration, attention, emotional state and performance when they take over for the self-driving car under different conditions. His lab’s findings will help inform the design of future driverless cars — from the layout of their dashboards and infotainment systems, to how they deliver alerts and ask drivers to take control. Do people drive more safely if their cars speak to them, flash messages or, say, vibrate the steering wheel? Should cars give an update on road conditions just before the human driver takes over at the wheel, or are such details distracting? And how does a driverless car clearly outline what it can and can’t do? Nass has a laundry list of such questions, the answers to which are likely to be monitored closely by automakers: In addition to his position at Stanford, Nass also consults for Google on its driverless cars and for major car companies, such as Nissan, Volkswagen, Volvo, Ford and Toyota (Toyota helped fund the Stanford simulator). These car manufacturers, along with Google, have assured the public that driverless cars will make our commutes safer, more efficient and more productive. They point out that machines don’t drink and drive or doze off at the wheel. Since algorithms react more quickly than humans, cars can be grouped into platoons, eliminating stop-and-go traffic and conserving fuel. Drivers will be able to read, text and work while their intelligent vehicles handle four-way stops. Yet despite these rosy predictions, carmakers won’t immediately deliver robo-taxis. The first generation of self-driving cars are more likely to be capable co-pilots that pass driving duties back