Waymo, the autonomous car development company, recently made history by launching cars on public roads without any safety drivers behind the wheel. The tests aren’t limited to one or two routes, and the cars are able to go anywhere within a defined space, in this case, the space being Chandler in Arizona.

Driverless cars have the potential to completely transform the way we travel. In his most recent TED talk, even Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla, said that “by the end of this year, an autonomous car will be able to leave a parking space in Los Angeles, navigate all the way across America, and park in a space in New York.” With this shift, there will also arrive a plethora of benefits; from reduced travel costs, to increased road safety and more efficient trips.

We all have, at some point of time in our lives, faced the nightmare of holiday traffic. Long weekends and holidays like Christmas and New Year’s are considered to be some of the most popular and busiest travel days of the year, with many travellers driving to their destinations by car. The advent of self-driving cars could reduce, if not fully eliminate, all this holiday traffic. Self-driving vehicles will be able to travel quickly, instead of being stuck in traffic on congested highways. They will be able to drive closer to the cars in front of them, at faster speeds, and navigate narrow lanes than are generally prone to human error.

Image source: EnergyKids

Self-driving cars may even help travellers plan ahead for increased efficiency. Once the vehicle knows the destination, it could suggest an alternate route based on the expected number of vehicles on the usual route. The car could then also recommend that travellers leave a day earlier or late, or even at two in the morning, to avoid getting stuck.

Autonomous cars could be a game-changer for the airline and rail industry as well. With increased efficiency and reduced costs, people may choose to travel by car than planes or trains. This, in turn, could drastically cut down flying costs, as the airline industry tries to keep up with the advent of this new technology and changing passenger demands. Additionally, self-driving cars allow for point-to-point transportation, which means no more wasted time travelling to a bus or train station or the airport.

Self-driving cars are all set to alter the landscape of mobility and revolutionize the automotive industry, public transport and swathes of the global population. While there is still a lot that needs to be sorted in terms of acceptance and readying our infrastructure for such cars, the excitement in the air is tangible with a faster and more efficient future of travel on the way.

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FiveAI, a Britain based startup that raised $2.7 million in equity funding to help develop an artificial intelligence to drive a car seamlessly.

Source: Steve Jurvetson / CC BY 2.0

Amadeus Capital, a venture capital company leading the investment thinks that the startup is worth more than it’s cashing on given that it has successfully exited a number of tech startups. The whole concept revolves around studying the nearby premises with the help of sensors which is all being processed by central computer capable of ‘machine learning’. This way it picks up information from encounters and applies to future situation.

“It uses sensors to perceive what’s out there – identifying things like road, pavement, street signs, pedestrians and other cars,” says Steve Allpress, chief technology officer at FiveAI. “It builds up a probabilistic picture of what is likely to happen that can see how our own actions and [others’] actions will influence possible options in order to then plan the safest route.”

The system is in tough competition with Tesla’s autonomous features which is just a driving aid than a fully autonomous driving system. This system unlike Tesla’s doesn’t require human to be in charge. Google’s system doesn’t have to have human interactions as a necessity but requires very heavy data to get things done. As the data is limited to only fewer area that Google has mapped, the technology would be repetitively used in such perimeter only.

“There are good perception systems out there that can identify objects,” says Allpress. “What’s more challenging is the actual AI. You want a system that can work out behaviour before it happens. You don’t want a system that will be surprised that someone’s going to walk out and then react. You want to know someone is going to walk out before and plan accordingly.”

The system needs initial work and a long process of validation and testing of the model but the company sees this as an integral part of autonomous tech. this would eventually lead to consolidation of fleets and manufacturer and car ownership will become unnecessary. This is because, once the driver is removed the cost reduction would set in and  it will become the most affordable option for most current drivers.

FiveAI would operate as standalone business in the meantime. The company plans to work with transportation operators, manufacturers, and rental car firms.

Source: Forbes

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Mobileye, the startup behind autonomous technology in Tesla cars and technologies for dozens of other car makers, is parting ways with Tesla. Mobileye’s EyeQ system is behind most of the semi-autonomous vehicles we see however, recently during a Q2 financial result conference call, Mobileye CTO Amnon Shashua announced that the relationship between Tesla and Mobileye will end. According to him, the work will not extend past the current system-on-a-chip used in Tesla Model S and Model X but the company will continue to support current vehicles including software fixes. It isn’t clear who pulled the plug on this association.

(Image: Tesla Model X by jurvetson/ CC-BY 2.0)

It is likely that Tesla will work on its version of the Autopilot software internally for the future. In a statement shared with Fortune, Elon Musk has shared that Mobileye has to support large number of models from legacy auto companies which was affecting its ability to evolve the technology quickly. Interestingly, a few months back Musk said that Tesla will continue to use Mobileye’s technology in response to the speculations about Tesla looking at Comma.ai for driverless car technology.

On the other side, Mobileye has recently announced a partnership with BMW and Intel to work towards creating a platform that would help various innovators in the space along with automobile companies to contribute towards the future of driverless cars. Surprisingly, the recent incident involving Tesla Model S wasn’t mentioned by Tesla or Mobileye while some are speculating that it could be a reason behind the fallout.

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Airbnb is considered to be one of the biggest disrupters in the hospitality industry. With more and more travellers looking for authentic experiences during their travel, the sharing economy is booming and Airbnb is leading the change. With new tools for business travellers and premium listings, Airbnb is eating into the bigger pie. There have been some controversies around the brand but there is lot more to it than just the controversies. Here are some interesting facts about Airbnb that you probably didn’t know.

#1. Those Funding Days

The initial funds ($30,000) were generated by selling special breakfast cereals called “Obama O’s” and “Cap’n McCains” taking inspiration from presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain.

ObamaO’s breakfast cereal

#2. The Valuation Game

It is valued at $20 billion which is higher than the valuation of Accor and Hyatt combined (Accor-$10.82 billion, Hyatt-$8.98 billion).

#3. How did it all happen

The idea originated with Brian Chesky & Joe Gebbia (co-founders) renting air mattresses in their apartment to visitors of a trade show to pay rents.

#4. You can stay at Brian’s place

Brian Chesky has been living on and off in Airbnbs since 2010 and listing the original Airbnb apartment on the website. 

#5. The name

The original name was AirBed&Breakfast which was later shortened to Airbnb.

#6. Celebs at Airbnb

You can find large number of celebrity houses listed on Airbnb like Elizabeth Taylor’s house here.

#7. Zero Ownership

Despite being the largest accommodation provider, Airbnb owns no real estate.

#8. Size Zero

You can rent a 1 sqm house in Germany on Airbnb. A wooden waterproof construction on wheels with slide door and a desk.

#9. Your Favourite F1 Team

Airbnb sponsors the Manor Marussia F1 Team.

The Manor F1 car with Airbnb sponsorship logos

#10. and lastly…

Their love for cars goes beyond F1. You can find Tesla charging stations at various Airbnb properties in California.

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