One of the integral themes of an autonomous driving future is communication. Vehicles will be required to rapidly and constantly talk to one another, relaying position, speed, and intent, with the same demands applying to our roadways and intersections which will be expected to relay weather, traffic, and safety information in real time as vehicles approach.
Pedestrians, however, pose a unique problem. In busy cities, pedestrians and drivers routinely communicate non-verbally by making eye contact or gesticulating, but an autonomous vehicle doesn’t have that privilege. Its machine code is dependant on a series of binary questions it must ask itself in order to determine if the person is a threat, which, if affirmative, currently results in the car coming to a halt, which on occasion has caused a rear-end collision, or two.
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