ErikStenger
Registered User
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2008
- Messages
- 5,925
- Age
- 43
There's a lot we could say right now. We could point to a recent LA Times Highway 1 blog post about how kids today are so into social media/sitting on their butts in front of the computer that they don't want or need cars. Or, we could talk about how awesome robo-technology like this (you'll see it all after the jump) would be a great way to bring back Group B or CanAm -- races deemed "too dangerous" for human being to compete in. Or we could just point out that we've seen Terminator 3 and we know how these things begin (and end), so excuse us if we run off to hide in cave up in the Sierra Nevadas.
But really, what you've got here is an iPhone controlling a minivan via an application called iDriver. That's right, an iPhone controlling a minivan. You got your control for the gas, the brakes and a steering wheel icon where you put your left thumb and twist it around to steer the minivan. Actually, that's not totally true. Your thumb stays still. The user must actually twist the iPhone around to steer.
The best part? The minivan beams images of what lays ahead directly back to the iPhone so you can see what the vehicle's pointing at, although there are a couple features notable by their absence. First, can you turn off the third row A/C while starting the Veggie Tales DVD for the hundred billionth time? Second, any contingency plan at all for what happens when the iPhone rings and you have to take the call? You can't exactly hit pause. Oooh -- what if the iPhone's battery goes dead? Interesting, no? Full video, after the jump.
<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oHDwKT564Kk&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oHDwKT564Kk&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>
But really, what you've got here is an iPhone controlling a minivan via an application called iDriver. That's right, an iPhone controlling a minivan. You got your control for the gas, the brakes and a steering wheel icon where you put your left thumb and twist it around to steer the minivan. Actually, that's not totally true. Your thumb stays still. The user must actually twist the iPhone around to steer.
The best part? The minivan beams images of what lays ahead directly back to the iPhone so you can see what the vehicle's pointing at, although there are a couple features notable by their absence. First, can you turn off the third row A/C while starting the Veggie Tales DVD for the hundred billionth time? Second, any contingency plan at all for what happens when the iPhone rings and you have to take the call? You can't exactly hit pause. Oooh -- what if the iPhone's battery goes dead? Interesting, no? Full video, after the jump.
<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oHDwKT564Kk&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oHDwKT564Kk&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>
.