Daimler has revealed an experimental vehicle that is able to communicate with pedestrians to let them know the car is driving autonomously.
In an effort to make communication between people and self-driving cars as intuitive as possible, the vehicle based on an S-Class features a number of visual and audio clues to let pedestrians aware there is not a human driver in control. Upon start-up, the car’s mirrors fold down and an audio prompt tells the passengers the vehicle is ready to drive.
Light stripes on the roof mimic the natural eye contact between driver and pedestrian to indicate the car has recognized a pedestrian, helping to make those more confident when crossing the road.
