Love autonomous vehicles? Have penchant for buses and public transport? Well, you're in luck because American can manufacturer Local Motors has teamed up with computing giant IBM to create the Olli, a fleet of driverless buses that will be operating in the Washington DC area.
The fleet, which has used IBM's machine learning and natural language processing platform Watson as part of its AI, is all about removing many of the frustrating issues that surround using public transport. For a start, the Olli doesn't need you to wait at a predetermined bus stop to catch one - much like a taxi service, you simply have to activate the bespoke Olli app and the autonomous bus will come to you.
The use of Watson will enable users to ask the Olli questions while they're moving and get answers on their progress in real time - and thankfully this robotic driver won't get distracted if they're talking to you and driving. The mini bus, which is also partially 3D-printed, is also electric so it's clean for the environment, reduces emissions and doesn't add to local noise pollution.
The Olli will be trialled by Local Motors and IBM in the US capital, but the firms plan to launch fleets in both Miami and Los Angeles by the end of the year. Local Motors is even in negotiations with cities outside the US to bring the technology to other locales including Berlin and Copenhagen.
Via: Local Motors
Why not check out: How our cities are getting smarter
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Dom Reseigh-Lincoln has been writing for T3 for over half a decade now, covering everything from mobile phones and laptops right through to video games and gaming peripherals. Purveyor of an excellent beard, as well as some perpetually cheeky offspring, Dom likes to wind down in his spare time by listening to heavy metal.
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