The future is here when Uber tells us it's here — and, apparently, that time is now.
The firm is poised to revolutionize the taxi game all over again by rolling out driverless cars.
Yep, you're reading that right. Driverless cars. DriverLESS cars. There will be no driver in your ride home. Your life literally depends on a robot. Get the picture? Do you have any idea how much of a big deal this is? It's history — creepy, robotic history.
And this isn't some flimsy back-of-napkin type plan. This is immediate. Driverless Ubers will be available THIS MONTH.
People in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will be able to summon one by the end of August.
There will be someone from Uber in the car during the launch phase (presumably making sure the computer system doesn't flip to "attack humans" mode).
If it's a huge success, you can expect to see driverless Ubers hitting your town in the near future.
Rumblings of driverless Ubers have been rife for months, and earlier this year the company confirmed speculation.
Uber revealed in a blog post that it had sent out a hybrid Ford Fusion to map Pittsburgh for data.
A spokesperson said at the time,
Self-driving cars have the potential to save millions of lives and improve quality of life for people around the world. 1.3 million people die every year in car accidents — 94 percent of those accidents involve human error. In the future we believe this technology will mean less congestion, more affordable and accessible transportation, and far fewer lives lost in car accidents.
We want to believe you, Uber, but no amount of statistics will ever make us feel safe in a car with NO DRIVER.
Citations: TechCrunch
