The Secret UX Issues That Will Make (Or Break) Self-Driving Cars

IN AN UNASSUMING RESEARCH LAB, VOLKSWAGEN IS SOLVING PROBLEMS THAT TESLA AND GOOGLE HAVEN’T COME CLOSE TO CRACKING.

We were rolling eastward across the San Mateo Bridge in an Audi A7 at a dutiful 55 miles per hour, and I was riding shotgun accompanied by two of the car’s engineers. With a sticker price topping $70,000, the A7 is a fancy car, but not an uncommon one along the stock-option-paved highways of Silicon Valley. I looked around at the drivers around us, knowing they hadn’t a clue about what was happening right beside them. Traffic was getting thick, as rush hour approached. Outside the window, the water of the San Francisco Bay was a dull green, like patinated copper, pitted by tiny waves. A bright blue sky. Our car’s test driver was smiling pleasantly, hands on his thighs, not touching the steering wheel at all.

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