The Jaguar Future-Type concept is a drivable, yet fully autonomous concept, representing the automaker’s vision for an on-demand self-driving vehicle scouring the streets in the year 2040.

At the heart of this concept is Sayer, the world’s first intelligent and connected steering wheel, unveiled a few days ago. Sayer, is the first ever voice-activated Artificial Intelligence (AI) steering wheel, on which future car users could rely on to summon a vehicle, play music, book a table at a restaurant or even monitor what’s going on at home.

In other words, this type of steering wheel might become the only part of a car you’ll need to own in the future.

“Future-Type offers an insight into the potential for driving and car ownership in the future. It’s part of our vision for how a luxury car brand could continue to be desirable, in a more digital and autonomous age,” said Ian Callum, director of design for Jaguar.

“Our Future-Type Concept is an advanced research project looking at how we can ensure an on-demand Jaguar will appeal to customers in 2040 and beyond.Whether it’s commuting to work, autonomously collecting children from school or enjoying driving yourself on the weekend in the countryside, if there’s a choice of on-demand cars driving around city streets, we need to ensure customers desire our 24/7 service over our competitors.”

Fast forward into the year 2040 and you could envision a fleet of fully-charged Future-Types helping users with their day to day tasks. For example, if you’re taking your child to school, and only require two seats, you can summon a Future-Type with a 2+1 social seating – allowing you to chat face-to-face while the car does all the driving.

An interesting fact is that the Future-Type is a relatively narrow car, which means it would take up less space on the road and in car parks.

In the end, it’s the driver that gets to choose which part of the journey he or she would prefer to operate manually, and which part can be left to the autonomous tech.

“In a future age of on-demand services and car sharing, our research shows there will still be a place for luxury and premium experiences – and enjoying the drive. People will still want to travel in style and comfort, while the growth of car sharing actually increases the opportunity for people to experience what a Jaguar has to offer, even if they chose not to own one,” concluded Callum.

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