In an experiment, scientists put a big pair of googly eyes on the front of a small self-driving car. It was found that this kind of change could actually make pedestrians feel safer.

What are self-driving cars?

A self-driving car, also called an autonomous car or driverless car, is a vehicle that can get from one place to another without a human driver. It does this by using sensors, cameras, and artificial intelligence (AI).

Researchers think that if a car doesn’t look at a pedestrian, that means the car doesn’t know who the pedestrian is. So, people on foot can decide for themselves if they want to cross the street.

And do the right things to keep from getting hurt. This kind of “gazing car” could help make pedestrians feel safer and cut down on car accidents.

For this study, the researchers used a golf cart with two big eyes on the front that could move. As the cart got closer, the volunteers were asked if they wanted to cross the road.

Key facts!

• The scientists tested four different situations.
• In two of them, the cart was being watched, and in the other two, it wasn’t.
• Researchers looked at how often people hesitated to cross when it was safe to do so and how often they crossed when it was not safe to do so.
• In general, having eyes made crossing the street safer and smoother for the participants than it would have been without them.
• The eyes were only useful to men when they were in situations that could be dangerous.
• The eyes made women feel safe by letting them know it was safe to cross the street.
• Even though big cartoon eyes might not be a feature of self-driving cars in the future.
• The study is a good example of the kind of research that needs to be done before self-driving cars hit the road to learn more about how people and cars interact.

This animation, which was posted on YouTube by “Thomas Schwenke,” provides an explanation of the fundamental workings of autonomous vehicles.

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