Driving a driverless car? Startup is working on remote control cars of future

Autonomous or self-driving technology is on its way to establishing a foothold in the automotive world, even though it is still a work in progress. As various automakers are trying to permute and combine technologies to crack the code of fully autonomous technology, Vay – a German-based startup – is taking a slightly different route and is working with teledrivers who are operating the cars from computer stations that have full driver-seat set up. This includes a steering wheel, pedals, and multiple monitors to see what is going around the car.

In the world of autonomous technology, this kind of human involvement is called human in the loop or HIL that provide a part-time solution to autonomous driving. The basis of this move is that the teledriver will guide the car when it is unable to navigate in a particular direction or a hazardous situation arises where human control is indispensable.

Vay service providing method is like an Uber service sans human as well as a sort of car-rental service. Users of Vay can request a ride and the remote-controlled vehicle will reach the location and then, the user can drive the car to his or her desired location and end the journey. Following this, the humanless car will then be teledriven to the next customer. A report by Car and Driver stated that according to Bloomberg, Vay is aiming to go fully remotely operated ride-hailing service so that users will never have to drive.

The startup, focusing intently on expanding Europe, wants to solve daily transportation challenges that include traffic jams, road deaths and air pollution. It is planning to launch a driverless certified "commercial-mobility service" in Europe and the United States by next year.