Swedish technology company Semcon has developed an autonomous car that has the ability to smile at pedestrians, helping to solve a key issue of self-driving cars.
The relationship between self-driving cars and pedestrians is one few companies have looked into, despite its importance.
Research from Semcon says that 80 per cent of pedestrians seek eye contact and validation to cross a road from a driver but if a vehicle doesn’t have a driver, some form of visual communication needs to be made between the car and the pedestrian instead. With a smiling face, Semcon believes it is on the way to solving that issue.
The company’s system is able to use cameras and laser technology to perceive a person’s head movements and read when a gaze is directed towards the car. The system is then able to respond by lighting up the front grille in the shape of a smiling face, giving the pedestrian the go-ahead to cross the road.
A similar solution is being developed by U.S. company Drive.ai only its setup will communicate with pedestrians through emojis.