It seems today that one only has to be able to imagine or envision technological advances and they can become a reality. Hollywood has included autonomous cars in sci-fi movies such as “Blade Runner“, “Minority Report” and “iRobot” showcasing impressive technology that always left viewers in awe. Now Sebastian Thrun the co-inventor of Googles Street View mapping service, is bringing what was at one time just in the imagination of filmmakers into a current reality.

Welcome to the World of Tomorrow!

Google, the world’s dominant search engine on the internet, has been experimenting with another type of engine that tests the limits of how different technologies can be combined. These self-driving or autonomous vehicles have driven over 140,000 miles using video cameras, radar sensors and a laser range finder to “see” other traffic as well as detailed maps to navigate the road ahead. Aiming to to dominate the highway and information superhighway with their technology, Google will utilize information previously gathered for Google Maps to make sure vehicles don’t drive off of the road.

Dmitri Dolgov, a Google engineer, in a self-driving car parked in Silicon Valley after a road test.

Combining effective mapping technology with vehicles will help solve many problems commuters face on the road. With the combination of digital road maps and data gathered from Google’s streetview vehicles, there is more information available for robotic driving than ever before. With this technology, safety can be improved to prevent accidents due to user error and commuters who are always on the road can free up their time to attend to other matters with using an autonomous vehicle. Using exact GPS coordinates, mapping the roads path, knowing speed limits for roads and being able to sense other vehicles is just as important as the technology that processes it. This means that if executed effectively, drivers will no longer have to worry about the many hazards on the road. The fusion of this data and how it is being processed is still a mystery, but one can guess that is will eventually be a base for all cars, if successful in the future. While Google is working hard at paving the way for the future of driving, there are vehicles available at your local dealership that have impressive features to help you drive.

Stanford engineers have developed a third autonomous vehicle. The car, named Shelley, is scheduled to race up Pikes Peak without a driver at the end of the summer.

Peer into the Future

In the vehicle market today there are many advances in technology that were only an idea years before. Now this technology is integrating itself into our everyday life through vehicles, just as Google hopes to do. GPS Navigation is slowly becoming standard in most vehicles, giving drivers the ability to find the fastest route to their location without having to leave the drivers seat. Today this technology is even made available in the palm of your hand, as long as you have a wifi or cell signal handy. GPS navigation has become fundamental from finding the nearest gas station, a local restaurant or directions to your grandmothers house in Kalamazoo. Even more recently we have seen the addition of Self-parking, backup camera, and parking sensors in vehicles for drivers that would like help getting into a tight spot while trying to park. Stanford University students have already begun to combine this technology into a self-driving, self-parking Volkswagen.

While reading through all of this new technology, the staff at Taylor Digital couldn’t help but to think of how we can utilize the combination of effective technology to accomplish goals. After all, technology is progressing just as rapidly on the web too isn’t it? We have seen much progress in the last five years with the explosion of mobile development and many advances in web languages that allow for more fluid designs that will work in various browsers. As a constantly evolving web development company, we at Taylor Digital have to make sure to keep moving with the technology, its adaptations and combinations.

As we prepare for the future, how fast can the technology be implemented?

Advancing with Technology

Here at Taylor Digital we combine many technologies together to achieve client goals on a daily basis. Depending on the client need we can use Facebook Connect to aide client login, streaming video across multiple platforms, working with Paypal payments or implementing search engine optimization across various content management systems. There are various ways we have kept ourselves updated in web development with books, blogs and magazines but as a team we always walk away more fulfilled having experimented hands-on. Ben Stein once said you need to “Jump into the middle of things, get your hands dirty, fall flat on your face, and then reach for the stars.”

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