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Essay / Google's autonomous automobile - 2397
Google's autonomous automobileIn 2010, Google announced that it had created an archetypal car capable of driving itself; its aim is to avoid collisions, give citizens more time and reduce harmful pollutants produced by vehicles (Poczter and Jankovic, 2014). The heart of the autonomous automobile is lasers mounted on the roof of a modified Toyota Prius that produce an accurate three-dimensional atlas of the area surrounding the car. In addition, the automobile is equipped with four radars and another laser around the vehicle which allows it to precisely create a 3D map of its environment (Poczter & Jankovic, 2014). The vehicle calculates laser dimensions with high-resolution maps of the globe, allowing it to drive itself without human intervention, while avoiding obstacles and obeying traffic laws (How Google's Self-Driving Car Works, 2011). The goals of autonomous driving cars are to reduce collisions, traffic jams and the consumption of gasoline and harmful pollutants. Autonomous automobiles are capable of maneuvering around objects and creating rapid lines of cars on roads (How Google's self-Driving Car Works, 2011). The autonomous vehicle can respond faster than humans, meaning fewer accidents and the potential to save thousands of lives. Another goal and vision of these cars is that the vehicles would become a shared resource. When someone needed a car, all they had to do was use their smartphone and a self-driving car would come and pick them up. While many people are interested in self-driving cars and the benefits they will bring to society, there are people who oppose driverless cars. Google has faced major censure from critics who are uncomfortable with the method in which the automobile will work because glucose levels can change so often. The Google Contact Lens Project is testing smart contact lenses produced to measure glucose levels in tears using wireless microscopic chips and miniature glucose sensors implanted between two layers of contact lens material ( Presentation of our smart contact lens project, nd). They are currently experimenting with prototypes that will have the ability to produce a reading every second, and are even considering integrating LED lights to alert the wearer that their glucose level has increased or fallen within the normal range (Presenting our lens project intelligent contact devices, nd). Although Google is still in the early stages of this project, they are in discussions with the FDA and other partners to bring this creation to fruition (Introducing our smart contact lens project, nd.).