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Will Robot Cars Need Windows?
An anonymous reader writes: The Atlantic has an article asking whether autonomous cars need windows. If there's no driver, will the passengers want to look outside? In the summer, will anyone want to endure the relentless heat from the sun? The robot cars offer us a great opportunity to rethink the platform which is largely devoted to supporting the driver. But if a computer is in charge and it sees with dozens of cameras ringing the car, what else can we change? What else don't we need? What can improve?
People who get car sick need windows. Nuff said.
I don't need windows - just gun ports.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
I would say that linux would be a superior choice to windows for a car. Less re-starting.
The passengers in a plane do not need windows but clearly because planes have windows at considerable cost to design properly (remember the Dehavilland Comet?) there's clearly a want for them to be there.
Passengers in cars will want the option of looking out. One can even argue that scenic drives with an autonomous car would be much safer because there's no driver to split his attention between the view and the act of operating the vehicle.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
There are plenty of reasons (beyond merely operating the vehicle) to need windows:
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Technically, the driver of a car never uses the windows in the door of the back seats.
I really don't want to be on the same road as you when you change lanes on the non-driving side...
Airliners only need one set of windows at the front, for the pilots. But there's a row of windows on either side, and the seats next to those windows are the second-most-popular (after those on the aisle) despite the fact that they're the most difficult to get in and out of, have no access to the overhead bins, and offer less head/foot room. See also: trains, buses, passenger ferries. So I think the answer is yes: robot cars will still have windows.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
If your sense of smell was strong enough to let you smell something at the bottom of a lake, and if as a beloved pet your entire life was spent mostly in the same restricted area - a particular home, yard and neighborhood, you would also jump at the chance to get as much new, fresh and undiscovered air drift past your nostrils as you could. If ever you observe a dog with its head out the window in a car, it will have the "smiling" pose known by dog owners (relaxed jaw, ears back, tongue out) but also those nostrils will be working furiously the entire time. The dog is smelling everything it can, as much as it can.
Dogs are curious creatures (which is why wolves were first drawn to human habitations). Wild dogs and wolves in packs usually roam over large territories. Modern dogs have adapted to living a human lifestyle more or less, provided they get plenty of exercise and toys and social stimulation to keep them from being bored. But when they get the chance to add new smells to their experience, they love that most of all.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Your dog is deprived of a simple pleasure. Hooray for you.
My dog arrives safely at his destination and won't become a 50lb projectile that could kill both of us in an accident. He also won't get any debris in his eyes that I'll have to have a vet remove later. My dog has plenty of joy in his life and I promise you will not know he missed anything by keeping his head inside the window.
It is safest practice for all concerned.
Never take your dog out. That's safest of all! Just lock it in a cage and it won't ever come to harm, although it will probably die of desperation.
Seriously while I don't agree with the labrador bouncing around in the back of the pickup truck, and while I do realize that the airbag can easily kill my 5lb poodle if it deploys, I don't spend my entire life worrying about every possible little thing that can go wrong. She's in my wife's lap with her leash on, and she loves to smell outside the window. I'd rather let her enjoy the ride with a small chance of serious injury if the worst should happen, than make sure she was miserable every trip getting car sick in a "safe" crate somewhere in the back of my car.
Life has risks. It's up to everyone to figure out the trade off they are willing to accept for themselves.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
this is why the best option is to strap the safety crate to the roof of the vehicle, and let the dog fear-poop itself while getting its fill of the 60mph scent-hurricane of highway travel.