Have you ever been out driving and come across one of those funny-looking cars with a camera on top? You might not have known it then, but you were coming face-to-face with the future of transportation.
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The future of transportation, AKA the Waymo vehicle, is one of the first efficient autonomous driving systems. These cars are all the rage and are slowly seeping into our societies, replacing far more than just human drivers. Turns out, Waymos are now built in ambulances too.
This week, in San Francisco, a pregnant woman ordered a Waymo to take her to the University of California, San Francisco medical center. On the drive there, her body went into delivery mode, and the company's rider support team detected "unusual activity" happening inside the vehicle. This would have been possible thanks to the cameras and microphones inside the car.
Apparently, the woman made it to the hospital with her child, but is currently unavailable to speak on the matter. The company's support team members arrived after the fact.
Waymo commented on the moment in a silly post this week. "Earlier this week in San Francisco, a mother in labor hailed a Waymo to the hospital and ended up with an extra surprise: her baby was delivered in the backseat. Some people just can't wait for their first Waymo ride."
Ironically, the incident has only brought more attention and interest to the futuristic car company.
How Did Waymo Get Started?
Waymo is a company owned by a Google partner company, which explains why they look like, well, that. The Waymo first came about as part of the Google Self-Driving Car Project in 2009. Here, the goal was to remove human drivers from the road entirely, using tools like AI and special sensors. In 2020, the company expanded to selling Waymo One vehicles in Arizona, officially making autonomous driving more accessible.
So, what's up with the funky camera on top of the car? The joke's actually on you, because Waymo has around 29 cameras to provide the car with a 360-degree view. No blind spots here!
While some people find the transition to autonomous driving a bit ominous, Waymo co-founder Anthony Levandowski says it's better to embrace the change. "If you ask people whether a computer can be smarter than a human," he shared in an interview. "99.9 percent will say that's science fiction. Actually, it's inevitable. It's guaranteed to happen."
So, it sounds like if you haven't, you might as well get on board. Autonomous driving is taking over the world, it seems, one pregnancy at a time.
Photo By: Getty Images
