Jaguar Land Rover’s Autonomous PODS give you the EYE

Jaguar Land Rover are testing pedestrians reactions to autonomous cars by using driverless pods which make eye contact to reassure pedestrians they have been seen.

With autonomous cars on the horizon, there are more issues to sort out than simply making sure the car knows what’s going on, and reacts accordingly.

It seems that one obstacle to overcome is how pedestrians will react to driverless cars, with 63 per cent of pedestrians apparently worrying it won’t be safe to cross the road with autonomous cars blatting around, according to Jaguar Land Rover.

So in an effort to finds a way to reassure pedestrians they are in safe hands with autonomous cars on the road, JLR is using self driving pods – designed by UK Autodrive partner Aurrigo – which are fitted with a big pair of eyes on the front.

The theory is that pedestrians would seek to make eye contact with a driver before crossing the road to make sure they’re aware of what’s going on, and the pods are designed to do the same by seeking out the pedestrians with their ‘eyes’ to reassure.

Pete Bennett, JLR Future Mobility Research Manager, said:

It’s second-nature to glance at the driver of the approaching vehicle before stepping into the road. Understanding how this translates in tomorrow’s more automated world is important.

We want to know if it is beneficial to provide humans with information about a vehicle’s intentions or whether simply letting a pedestrian know it has been recognised is enough to improve confidence.

Big Brother is literally watching.