(10-15-2013 11:24 AM)dmacfour Wrote:  The current trend is toward higher automation, simply because of how much safer it can be. I was listening to an engineer from BMW speak about a study he did involving bringing a human back into the loop in a fully automated car. They want to know how people react when they need to resume manual control.

My thoughts were towards making an analogy to piloting an airplane. But, I doubt the average driver has the capabilities or judgment to know when to pull the plug on technology or seamlessly take over when they do (with automation, you could reduce the following distance between cars, but I doubt many drivers would compensate for this when they took over manual control).

(10-15-2013 11:28 AM)dmacfour Wrote:  Operating a car is probably about as physically demanding as playing a video game on your couch.

Perhaps, but riding as a passenger in one can be a hell of a lot more stressful.

(10-15-2013 11:57 AM)LSU04_08 Wrote:  

(10-15-2013 11:28 AM)dmacfour Wrote:  

(10-15-2013 11:21 AM)LSU04_08 Wrote:  

(10-15-2013 11:14 AM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  I have an auto braking feature when my cruise control is activated. It is annoying sometimes.

Do you have to press "Resume" after it brakes every time? I'd just have to settle for the technology that actually lets you do more than just put your car in gear by yourself.

Kind of makes you wonder if technology is heading towards lazy people. Not on purpose, but in the long run, we'll have nothing to do but sit there.

You bring up a good point, but I personally don't think that an automated car is any less healthy for a human than a manually operated one. Operating a car is probably about as physically demanding as playing a video game on your couch. If people wanted to be healthier in any significant way, they'd consider biking. But that also feeds right back into what you were saying; people don't choose to bike because they want something to do if for them. Public transportation and the car has been doing this for humanity for a century now.

I guess I used the wrong words... What I'm intending to say is that a car doing everything for you makes you lazy emotionally. You tend to stop paying attention, or not pay nearly as much attention, and the more comfortable with your vehicle you become, the more emotionally lazy you could get.

Imagine setting your Navigation for a destination 20 miles away. You get in you car, start it up, input your settings, and relax. 20 to 40 yards before your turn, your blinker automatically comes on, your speed is set to the posted limit (probably via satellite by this point) and you have automatic braking and accelerating. Cars already detect vehicles in your blind spot so that's already there too in case your car decides to pass... There's nothing to do but play with the radio. It's going to outdo itself, technology. One day...

And that's what I mean by "out of the loop". Driver's will disengage when they aren't needed, just as airline pilots do when autopilot is engaged. The problem people in my field are research is how to bring someone back into the loop effectively and safely.

I do believe that some people would use an automatic car to do nothing, but I don't see how it should be considered any more lazy than taking a bus. If anything, it provides an opportunity for a person to use their commute for productive activities. Imagine if future cars had desk space, emphasizing productivity over car control?

(10-15-2013 12:04 PM)dmacfour Wrote:  

(10-15-2013 11:57 AM)LSU04_08 Wrote:  

(10-15-2013 11:28 AM)dmacfour Wrote:  

(10-15-2013 11:21 AM)LSU04_08 Wrote:  

(10-15-2013 11:14 AM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  I have an auto braking feature when my cruise control is activated. It is annoying sometimes.

Do you have to press "Resume" after it brakes every time? I'd just have to settle for the technology that actually lets you do more than just put your car in gear by yourself.

Kind of makes you wonder if technology is heading towards lazy people. Not on purpose, but in the long run, we'll have nothing to do but sit there.

You bring up a good point, but I personally don't think that an automated car is any less healthy for a human than a manually operated one. Operating a car is probably about as physically demanding as playing a video game on your couch. If people wanted to be healthier in any significant way, they'd consider biking. But that also feeds right back into what you were saying; people don't choose to bike because they want something to do if for them. Public transportation and the car has been doing this for humanity for a century now.

I guess I used the wrong words... What I'm intending to say is that a car doing everything for you makes you lazy emotionally. You tend to stop paying attention, or not pay nearly as much attention, and the more comfortable with your vehicle you become, the more emotionally lazy you could get.

Imagine setting your Navigation for a destination 20 miles away. You get in you car, start it up, input your settings, and relax. 20 to 40 yards before your turn, your blinker automatically comes on, your speed is set to the posted limit (probably via satellite by this point) and you have automatic braking and accelerating. Cars already detect vehicles in your blind spot so that's already there too in case your car decides to pass... There's nothing to do but play with the radio. It's going to outdo itself, technology. One day...

And that's what I mean by "out of the loop". Driver's will disengage when they aren't needed, just as airline pilots do when autopilot is engaged. The problem people in my field are research is how to bring someone back into the loop effectively and safely.

I do believe that some people would use an automatic car to do nothing, but I don't see how it should be considered any more lazy than taking a bus. If anything, it provides an opportunity for a person to use their commute for productive activities. Imagine if future cars had desk space, and emphasized controls less?

In a perfect world that would be great. Maybe by then there will be some sort of aptitude test that will give telltale signs of whether or not this person should be behind the operations of an autopilot car.

(10-15-2013 12:04 PM)dmacfour Wrote:  I do believe that some people would use an automatic car to do nothing, but I don't see how it should be considered any more lazy than taking a bus. If anything, it provides an opportunity for a person to use their commute for productive activities. Imagine if future cars had desk space, emphasizing productivity over car control?

Better yet, a minibar.

(10-15-2013 12:10 PM)LSU04_08 Wrote:  

(10-15-2013 12:04 PM)dmacfour Wrote:  

(10-15-2013 11:57 AM)LSU04_08 Wrote:  

(10-15-2013 11:28 AM)dmacfour Wrote:  

(10-15-2013 11:21 AM)LSU04_08 Wrote:  Do you have to press "Resume" after it brakes every time? I'd just have to settle for the technology that actually lets you do more than just put your car in gear by yourself.

Kind of makes you wonder if technology is heading towards lazy people. Not on purpose, but in the long run, we'll have nothing to do but sit there.

You bring up a good point, but I personally don't think that an automated car is any less healthy for a human than a manually operated one. Operating a car is probably about as physically demanding as playing a video game on your couch. If people wanted to be healthier in any significant way, they'd consider biking. But that also feeds right back into what you were saying; people don't choose to bike because they want something to do if for them. Public transportation and the car has been doing this for humanity for a century now.

I guess I used the wrong words... What I'm intending to say is that a car doing everything for you makes you lazy emotionally. You tend to stop paying attention, or not pay nearly as much attention, and the more comfortable with your vehicle you become, the more emotionally lazy you could get.

Imagine setting your Navigation for a destination 20 miles away. You get in you car, start it up, input your settings, and relax. 20 to 40 yards before your turn, your blinker automatically comes on, your speed is set to the posted limit (probably via satellite by this point) and you have automatic braking and accelerating. Cars already detect vehicles in your blind spot so that's already there too in case your car decides to pass... There's nothing to do but play with the radio. It's going to outdo itself, technology. One day...

And that's what I mean by "out of the loop". Driver's will disengage when they aren't needed, just as airline pilots do when autopilot is engaged. The problem people in my field are research is how to bring someone back into the loop effectively and safely.

I do believe that some people would use an automatic car to do nothing, but I don't see how it should be considered any more lazy than taking a bus. If anything, it provides an opportunity for a person to use their commute for productive activities. Imagine if future cars had desk space, and emphasized controls less?

In a perfect world that would be great. Maybe by then there will be some sort of aptitude test that will give telltale signs of whether or not this person should be behind the operations of an autopilot car.

That's the best part. In the future, we could put the dumbest people in a car, and they wouldn't be a threat anymore. No more drunk driving, no more idiots f*cking up the flow of traffic. We could require aptitude tests for people that desire manual operation.