Technically, the invisible chauffeur already exists — Google has been test-driving driverless cars in California. Nevada recently approved licenses for “autonomous vehicles,” meaning if you see an empty car cruise down the strip, there’s actually a chance it isn’t a drunken hallucination. And General Motors claims it will have its own driverless cars on road by 2018. An invisible co-pilot, however, has already made its way into upcoming models.
Your car will help you parallel park — if you’ve got a Lexus LS 460 L, the Advanced Parking Guidance System asks you to align the car and put it in reverse before tapping a button. After that, take your hands off the steering wheel, control the speed with your foot on the brake, and let the car manueuver its way in.Cruise control can go beyond staying at a set speed. With radar sensors on the front of your car, the system will detect the speed of and distance between you and the car in front of you, adjusting cruise control to keep a safe distance.
The co-pilot will also watch out for lateral collisions by using a variety of sensor technologies — lidar, radar, ultrasound, video — to monitor the area surrounding the car and, when another car or object gets too close, applying a “directional impulse” tug to the steering wheel.
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