Human Condition Institute

Vehicles of Tomorrow

The Driverless Car Will Arrive Sooner Than You Think

The Vehicles of Tomorrow is a program of the Human Condition Institute that was developed to address the coming issues and disruptions that the evolutionary introduction of driving automation and driverless vehicles will bring to populations, industries, urban centers and governments.

Built on the success of our Taxi of Tomorrow program for the City of New York, for which we received accolades from both the New York Times and WIred, we developed the Vehicles of Tomorrow program to explore, discuss and develop the responsible future of transportation.

The idea of a driverless car is equally captivating, exciting and frightening at the same time. We are now at the dawn of an exciting and somewhat scary new age. There are many questions to ask, systems to understand, and social and behavioral issues to discuss.

The driverless car is closer than you might have originally thought, but it did not arrive overnight. Automation and driver aids have been added bit-by-bit into the car you drive today — cruise control, automatic parking sensors, mapping technologies, lane assist, proximity cameras, braking systems, traction control and impact detection for deploying air bags — are existing technologies with new intelligence that will bring about a fully-developed driving system. The question is, are we?

Our focus:

• Stakeholder Identification.Who are the people and groups affected by a driverless world?
• Economic Impact.What are the ripples and disruptions that will affect traditional ecosystems?
• Government and Policy.What do cities, states, and countries have to comprehend to legislate effectively?
• Environmental Impact.How will energy consumption and air quality be affected?
• Technology.What are the strengths and weaknesses of the current technologies being used?

As companies such as Google, Mercedes, and Volvo vie to have the first usable vehicles to market, we need to take a holistic look at the ecosystem driverless cars and other vehicles on the road will inspire and create. Each country, state, and city will need to work through the vast and seemingly endless task of policy, regulation and enforcement as with any significant disruptive technology.

Headed by industry veterans, technologists, anthropologists, government leaders, sociologists, economists and urban planners, this think tank will lead policy discussions and develop a map of this emerging ecosystem. We will put together public and private forums, workshops, and panels will push the dialogue as well as produce actionable insights, publications, data visualizations, infographics, events, demos, short films and personal experiences exploring these issues will be developed and distributed to the public, industry and governments to help research policy and social implications.

Areas such as insurance, highway maintenance, traffic congestion, signaling and signage, fueling, automaker business models, technology, communication, mobile sensor applications, public space, and air quality will all be explored and opportunities uncovered.