Self-driving car launched

Google

In the future, blind people could benefit from self-driving cars using technology developed by Google.

A video has been released showing Steve Mahan, a blind man from California, driving to a restaurant and to a dry cleaners.

The autonomous cars use cameras, radar and lasers to move safely around pre-programmed locations. The vehicles have so far clocked up more than 200,000 miles of safe test drives.

"We think the most important thing computers can do in the next decade is to drive cars," Google said in a press release.

The project has been several years in the making, and was officially unveiled in October 2010.

The video of Steve Mahan driving the car can be seen on YouTube.

Last updated: 5 April 2012

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