WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF
- With over sixty percent of Americans feeling either downright nervous about, or just plain anti self-driving cars, Uber and other car companies are hoping these kinds of videos will encourage the general public to embrace the technology when it finally rolls out
Uber’s self driving cars have been operating on a limited basis in Pittsburgh for a couple of months now and getting a ride in one is by invitation only. So it was with great luck – or maybe because of great connections that defensive ends Cam Heyward and Stephon Tuitt, from the Pittsburgh Steelers, managed to get a ride in one – although at times it might not look like they were actually going to be able to fit into the back of the car, so while it would have been far too cramped in the back for you to tag along and experience it for yourself fortunately they posted a video of their experience so now you too can see what it’ll be like to get taken for a ride.
Tuitt: “What are we going to do?”
Cam: “Don’t worry, bro. I got the @Uber_PIT.” pic.twitter.com/08KhpV02GR— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) October 7, 2016
In case you’re wondering why Pittsburgh is so special it’s because that’s where Ubers Advanced Technologies Center and robotics facility is based – right next to, arguably, the kings of the autonomous car world at Carnegie Mellon University who so far have spawned more autonomous car experts than every other university combined.
Despite all the fanfare though I’m still left thinking that this isn’t as cool as getting into an Uber flying taxi so I’ll wait for my invitation to try one of those instead…