What is the middle ground between renting a car by the minute and getting into a taxi or VTC? That the car comes to us without a driver, we take it to its destination, and when the car is finished, it goes alone to park or to another client.
You may not have heard of Go before. Us neither. It is an emerging company that has been developing for three years and testing a technology that will make people talk. At the moment it has moved 30 million dollars in funds, mainly from European investors, and next year it will enter service.
Thomas von der Ohe, one of its founders, already worked in the start-up Zoox previously, the company that ended up gobbling up Amazon. Among its workers there are people who have worked with technology such as the aforementioned Amazon, Google, Skype or Waymo, as well as with automobile companies such as Audi, BMW or Daimler. A certain Nico Rosberg has also put in money.
Uniting the best of both worlds, that of technology and that of the automobile, they propose a service that will be the first of its kind in the world. It’s about a middle ground between car rental with driver and without driver. This is where we introduce the concept of teleconductor, telechefer or teledriver.
For a very competitive price compared to ordering a taxi or a VTC (Uber or Cabify in Spain), the customer will request a car and will not have to go to it. It will be the car that goes to the customer. Apparently there will be no one at the wheel (the seat is empty), but remotely there is someone driving the car, a person, who dominates the controls with a steering wheel and pedals.
Of course, the cars will be electric, so they will not contribute to urban pollution
When the car picks up the customer, he gets behind the wheel and drives to his destination, in the same way that we would do with a FreeNow or ShareNow car. Once you reach your destination, you don’t have to waste time looking for parking, just get out and a teleconductor takes over again.
The philosophy behind this way of operating is that it is comfortable as much as possible (door to door), it does not increase the risks in Road Safety, and the technological development is much cheaper than a level 4 semi-autonomous vehicle (it requires timely action human) or fully autonomous level 5.
Vay’s electric Kira Niro will start working with real passengers next year
The teleconductors are connected to the car through high-speed Internet (we assume that with 5G networks, due to its low latency and high data throughput) with redundancy. There are several connections at the same time, so the fall or delay of one of them does not make the car run out of control.
In the driving position, to call it somehow, drivers have a panoramic view of their surroundings without blind spots, thanks to the cameras carried by the cars. A system of augmented reality hazards like pedestrians or bicyclists are highlighted where they shouldn’t be.
On the other hand, the system ensures that these four variables with great influence on the accident rate are eliminated from the equation: speeding (not allowed), influence of alcohol or drugs, distraction or fatigue. In addition, teleconductors have notable employment benefits.
With a triple panoramic monitor (48: 9), teleconductors can see their entire front and side perimeter, as well as the three rear-view mirrors
To be a teleconductor, the appearance, physical condition, sex, age do not matter … They can work in a very safe environment, with predictable hours, with a fixed salary, without sharing space with other people (for health purposes). eliminate potential problems with passengers, etc. Of the latter, taxi drivers already know Latin and Greek.
The teleconductor is emerging as a new profession that is much more attractive and safer than that of a face-to-face driver
The company has been making contacts with the authorities, so that next year they will allow Vay’s cars to move around the city of Berlin (soon Portland, Oregon, USA) without the driver who must now be in the car. in case something happens. And the jump to total autonomy is very easy to implement, just put the AI in the middle.
Thus, Vay can build a brand image for years, until autonomous driving becomes a reality, as well as starting to do business with its technology for goods delivery companies, etc. And as there will always be people behind the wheel (although not in person) it is assumed that it will give more confidence to users.
Their website is very recent and it costs a little to find it, we save you the work: https://vay.io/