Waymo has had cars equipped with self-driving technology on the road for years, but those cars don’t represent the company’s final form. Chrysler and Jaguar models are among the vehicles retrofitted with autonomous systems that can still be driven by humans – that is, they have steering wheels, pedals and other things that self-driving vehicles don’t need to operate themselves. It’s only a matter of time before fully self-driving cars become a common sight on the road, and they will have very different interiors.
Waymo has already given the public a glimpse of an example of this type of car. In a new video shared on Twitter, a prototype cab in partnership with Geely Group shows multiple seats with personal monitors – and most notably, the complete absence of common vehicle equipment like a steering wheel – in what Waymo says is a “passenger-first” design.
The prototype does not require human intervention in most cases, and the operator interface and even the windows can be completely redesigned.
According to Waymo, the cab we see in the tweet is its latest vehicle platform – in this case, one designed entirely for the rental business. In the future, in limited cases, anyone can pull out their smartphone and call a self-driving car, which will drive right up to the customer and take them where they want to go. Not only does this have the potential to reduce accidents, as these cars will be able to talk to each other, but it also has the potential to improve the way seniors, people who can’t drive, and others who may face limited independence get around.
The idea of designing these vehicles with gaming and productivity in mind is not new – in fact, if you have a wide enough view, one could argue that infotainment displays in airplanes and built-in TVs in old vans are the first examples of how automotive interiors have evolved to meet not only the needs of customers but also the nature of the mode of transportation itself. Some concept cars even have windows that choose to blur the outside world and replace it with video; others have integrated gaming systems, and some designs even include desks for passengers who want to get some work done while commuting.
Waymo’s driverless vehicles are much more practical: each seat seems to have its own display, with the exception of perhaps the two front seats, which appear to share a single display. The prototype doesn’t offer any details about what kind of connectivity it might offer, for example, but that’s not the point: the prototype will undoubtedly change before its final form, but whatever the design, it proves that we’re closer than ever to smart cars taking over the streets.
