Jalopnik
Lexus has been letting drivers prove they cannot handle basic driving functions for a while now, but Volkswagen is getting into the act and recently demonstrated a similar type of parking assist service at the Hanover Fair. The system uses the usual array of cameras and ultrasound sensors to perfectly park the car in a narrow space. Similar to Lexus though it may be, VW's Park Assist Vision does have one particularly nice function that would even make the DARPA folks envious.
Lexus has been letting drivers prove they cannot handle basic driving functions It includes a remote control. With this you can get out of the vehicle, activate the Park Assist Vision and it will park itself and lock the doors. With that time saved you could get into the mall a whole 30 seconds sooner than without the system. [WCF]
Comments
Wow I can just image a whole mall parking lot full of douchebags running their cars into each other remotely.
Is the automobile industry trying to convince people parking is just beyond them.
This will create some awesome parking lot traffic jams. I can see it now, housewife, on cell phone and frappaccio, attempts to have car park itself...as a driver swoops in and steal its parking spot.
Can this thing drive up to valet in L.A. unmanned??? I would buy it if it could do that!
Maximum Remote Day continues.
@wookie1901: parking IS beyond some people. Ever been to the Home Depot?
yeah but a lot of people can't park these days...
This lady could've used a VW.
[jalopnik.com]
Seriously? To park in a head-in spot? Not to parallel park? Dios mio!!
A liability nightmare waiting to happen.
"Your car ran over my child!"
"Talk to the hand. Send your complaint to Wolfsburg"
how about actual driving lessons being mandatory??
got too many people who dont know basic driving skills and laws on the streets especially here in Florida where they give you a license if you can spell your name correctly
@Ash, Cash, or Grass: We got a letter back from Wolfsburg, Germany...its says "Gespräch zur Hand, Weibchen!
So what happens if you try and use this sonar based parking method in a parking lot that does not have a retaining wall on the other side of the parking stall? Does it just keep going until it backs itself all the way through the stall and either into oncoming parking traffic or onto the sidewalk? I'm assuming that's how it knows when to stop.
Wake me up when it's able to drive itself to BevMo and buy me a couple of bottles of Gordon's.
@Ash, Cash, or Grass: Insurance companies and lawyers, rejoice!
I see this technology from two different points of view:
1) I can park myself just fine, parallel or otherwise.
but...
2) Apparently many people can't (thinking of about every woman I've ever driven with)
Soooo, while the average Jalop can (probably) park him or herself, this might be a useful system for those who cannot.
This just proves that we need more companies like TVR.
Traction control? Nah.
Stability control? Bitch, please.
ABS? Piss off.
Air bags? Go fuck yourself.
@yellofury * * * * *: amusingly I'm from florida and THEY misspelled my name on my license.
I like the idea of a remote, but only if it can park in super slim parking spaces.
Great. So this invention makes it even easier for complete knobs to park in such a way as to completely block the doors of their own car and those on either side of them. Just what we need.
Yeah, but if you get out of the car and then let it park, no one will think you are an awesome parker and admire you!
Long ago I wrestled my heavy Nova, no power steering, into a very tiny, laughably tiny parallel spot. I had sore biceps the next day but I got it in there and actually drew a polite round of applause from a couple of people who had stopped to witness the drama. A lesser person would have given up and gone to the parking lot but I wanted to prove I was a good parker AND a stubborn idiot.
Oh... My... God... Invisible Valets
@Novaload: I wanted to prove I was a good parker AND a stubborn idiot.
If better a measure of a man there is, I know it not.
not to point out a corporate marketing flaw. but does audi not market one of its cars as "a car for people who can park themselves"?
is it me or did anyone notice one of the reverse lights were out..
@b20a: In typical VW style. That's a known issue.
@Alphamazing: Yeah, the Sagaris is quite possibly the car I lust after the most.
Now VW/Audi has a lock on all sectors of the car market:
Audi, the luxury car for people who can park themselves.
VW, the car for people who can't.
That said, if my wife ever insistz on buying a vaguely truck-shaped station wagon, I'm still planning to purchase the V10 TDI Touareg.
If you could have the remote controller in a watch and you would activate it by saying 'KITT, I need you!' I would buy it immediately.
The next step would be a similar driver-less vehicle that would be able to enter, park, and exit a multilevel parking garage.
There's an ass for every seat.
[www.break.com]
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