Research firm Frost & Sullivan teamed up with Oxford University’s Said Business School earlier last week to give a presentation at a “Cars of the Future” seminar. The presentation, given by partner Dorman Followwill, discussed the firm’s vision of the developments that will drive the world toward safer and more autonomous automotive solutions, as well as a variety of chances expected for the future of transportation, including “cars that drive themselves.”
About 150 came to hear Followwill speak.
“The ubiquitous use of embedded sensors will enable the integration of passenger car driving dynamics, driver assistance and comfort technologies by roughly 2015,” says Followwill. “This will yield the critical vehicle systems necessary for semi-autonomous and autonomous driving solutions in the next five to 15 years. Furthermore, the urban mobility system of the future will open significantly new applications across both the driver and driverless landscape.”
The notion of a car that drives itself is an interesting one, and the presentation sparked a lively debate. Oxford profession Paul Newman, of the department of engineering science, suggested that it might be possible to go further and have the future of the driverless car be infrastructure free, given the state of robotics software currently being researched and deployed (by Newman’s own team).
Followwill’s entire presentation is available online, so click here for an inside scoop on the presentation.
