The Affective Intelligent Driving Agent, or AIDA for short, is the result of a collaboration between Audi and MIT to try and find a way to humanize the relationship between nagging automated systems and a frustrated driver... by adding a face to the nagging systems:

A laser projector the size of a deck of cards is mounted inside the head and projects colour graphics to create expressions on its "face". According to Mikey Siegel, part of a team at the MIT Media Lab collaborating with Audi to design AIDA, the versatile neck and face allow the robot to make a wide range of human-like gestures that can send subtle signals to the driver. A downturned face with pleading eyes, for example, indicates that AIDA is "worried" because the driver has failed to buckle the safety belt.

It's not only when seat belts are left unbuckled that it'll plead with you, however; the entire car will help it spy on you to know what mood you're in:

It uses sensors inside and outside the car to pick up clues about the driver's state of mind: grip strength and skin-conductivity sensors in the steering wheel, for example, tell the robot when the driver is tense. AIDA also uses GPS logs of a driver's travels to learn favourite locations and suggest better routes.

Yes, the future of GPS is part friendly robot, part driving-centric lie detector. And it's not just Audi who're working on this; according to New Scientist, both Nissan and Pioneer are already working on similar systems.

Robot driving companion brings emotion to navigation [New Scientist]

'Chariots Retired' went on sale last night at midnight and will continue on throughout the day, so if you want an opportunity to own this killer limited edition T, you'd better get on it. This writer did.

TeeFury is a relatively new outfit started in 2008 by a bunch of graphic designers and artists interested in limited edition apparel. Their basic catch is that each t-shirt goes on sale for a single 24 hour period of time or until the first run of t-shirts sells out and then... poof! They're gone, never to be seen from again, except for the lucky group that managed to get first dibbs. And at only $9, they're cheap too.

The biggest difference between TeeFury and some of the 'other' limited edition t-shirt sellers is that rather than rely on a community vote, the designs are carefully chosen by a professional team of designers and artists, guaranteeing that the designs are of quality appearance and execution. We're hoping for some more of these 80's autogeek-gasmic Ts for us to grab in the near future. [via TeeFury]

And before that, an army of freshmen and synchronized wristwatches. This particular example is from the Wrocław University of Technology and shows a KITT light show and rudimentary race cars.

For way more surreal KITT action, direct your attention to a very old episode of Totalcar, the hilarious motoring show co-presented by Nino Karotta (previously on Jalopnik as a driver of an F1 car and a gangster Benz). Watch him go to Austria to road test a KITT replica and get arrested by highway police while wearing a Hoff wig and fake chest hair.

No subtitles this time. To lessen the cruelty, here’s a bite of Hungarian: when he says elmekórtani intézet at 20 seconds in, that means psychiatric institute. It all makes sense now, doesn’t it?

And if you prefer your KITT new school, we’ve got plenty of that too.

These shots come to us courtesy of Denver DOTSBE specialist Kitt; I'm not sure how close this car lives to the '72 Maverick sedan, but it's likely that the two have crossed paths during their travels. The bumpers and grille suggest that we're looking at a '73 or '74 model here, so I'm choosing the latter year at random; you Maverick experts are encouraged to point out year-specific identifying features for us.

I didn't take these photos, of course (I'm still being lazy, the day after my grueling 11-hour Ely-to-Denver jaunt). We can thank frequent Denver DOTSBE contributor Kitt for finding and shooting this beautifully battered '56 for us.

These days, you're most likely to see a '56 Chevy in pristine condition at a car show, probably with a Time Out Kid leaning on it and "The Book Of Love" playing on the PA for the 19,232nd time. It's refreshing to see one that clearly gets daily driving action at age 53.
Looks like the Gawker Server Hamsters don't like new galleries today- or maybe they're just on strike again- so you'll need to look at the photos the old-fashioned way:

We pause from the blazing awesomeness of Autorama to bring you this JaloPSA: You can build two awesome cars name KITT, but without a good show to support them, any Knight Rider franchise will die.

If only we'd have featured this public service announcement before NBC sent the latest iteration of the Knight Rider franchise into the seething hell of terrible scripts and even worse acting, we might all be enjoying a sentient car-based action show today. Sadly, such is not the case. The two KITTs posed together in some creepy post-mortem celebration of the show, here at Autorama where on multiple occasions, feathered mullet frocked onlookers squealed with delight upon seeing that monster Mustang. No such response for the venerable old F-body.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Photo Credit: Alex C. Conley

The Olds and Plymouth wagons were shot by Kitt.






Here's what EJacobs has to say about this Chevy Biscayne wagon: This sucker still does trailering duty for lawn mowing equipment. Much respect for being such a raw, old working 'mobile. Probably would survive most apocalypses. And it's a wagon. The interior is disintegrating. And the rear seats are...folded down, I guess. Somehow, I think that's a permanent feature.

NBC TO PICK UP NINE ADDITIONAL EPISODES OF "KNIGHT RIDER” TO COMPLETE FULL-SEASON ORDER FOR 2008-09

UNIVERSAL CITY – October 21, 2008 – NBC will pick up nine additional episodes of its the freshman drama series "Knight Rider” (Wednesdays, 8-9 p.m. ET) to provide the series with a full-season order for 2008-09, it was announced today by Ben Silverman, Co-Chairman, NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios.

"Gary Scott Thompson and the great cast and crew of 'Knight Rider' continue to deliver fun, action packed adventures every week,” said Silverman. "Kitt and Michael will continue to travel across the country on their fun, escapist ride pursuing bad guys and saving the day.”

"Knight Rider” premiered its new season on Wednesday, September 24 (8-9 p.m. ET).
The series is averaging a 2.4 rating, 7 share in adults 18-49 and 7.4 million viewers overall so far this season in "live plus same day" averages. "Knight Rider" is the #1 regular series in its competitive time period in all key adult-male demographics and won the slot in adults 18-49 with its most recent telecast on October 15.

On the heels of NBC's hit movie, the iconic 1980s television classic comes roaring back to life as a reinvented, updated and super-charged action series showcasing the new KITT (Knight Industries Three Thousand). Absolutely the coolest car ever created, KITT is equipped with "AI” (artificial intelligence) that is capable of hacking almost any system. Its weapon's systems match that of a jet fighter, its body is capable of actually transforming into other vehicles and it uses sophisticated holographic imagery to elude villains.

"Knight Rider" stars Justin Bruening ("Cold Case"), Deanna Russo ("NCIS"), Sydney Tamiia Poitier ("Veronica Mars"), Paul Campbell ("Battlestar Galactica”), Yancey Arias ("Kingpin”) and Bruce Davison ("Breach"). Smith Cho ("Blades of Glory”) recurs. David Bartis ("Heist," "The O.C."), Doug Liman ("Mr. and Mrs. Smith," "The Bourne Identity"), Matt Pyken ("Las Vegas”) and Gary Scott Thompson ("Las Vegas,” "The Fast and The Furious”) are executive producers.

Based on characters created by Glen Larson, "Knight Rider” is from Universal Media Studios and Dutch Oven Productions.

[Source: NBC, Youtube]

Just a reminder, the first episode of the new Knight Rider premieres tonight at 8:00 PM EST. We've already all seen it, but don't let our snap review stop you from watching. Although you'd be a stupid piece of KITT not to listen to us.

Fralick said of the car "I just turned 50. So it actually made me feel like I was 18 again." Now, she's cruising around in an early '90s Buick Regal GS, which is good transportation but hardly a Mustang GT. Fortunately, if her now KITT-ified Mustang ever goes back up for sale she gets first dibs. [WOODTV]

But the cosmetics are still what makes this one-off car something special. Ford's turned this $80,000 Shelby into KITT thanks to a sweet-looking black-on-black paint job, the addition of 20" Shelby "Super Snake" wheels, 90% tinted windows all-around and of course, the Auto Indulgence 15" LED "Knight Rider" security scanner lightbar. Sure, it's all stuff you can buy off the rack — but when combined together, it makes this "King of the Road" look bad-ass.

But what's great about this customized Shelby is when the novelty of cruising around in KITT wears out, and you've turned the lightbar off, you remember you're still driving a Shelby GT500KR. That said, there's now even greater incentive to pull to a stop, shift into first and floor it. Because when you do, your world shrinks into a tunnel of motion with only a pinpoint of clarity ahead, wild-eyed narration provided by an unnatural banshee wail emanating from the supercharger. You watch, almost from outside of your body, as time dilates and you are no longer subject to the rules of physics. You feel as though this motor will pull the stars from their places in the heavens. And then the rev limiter brings it all back to reality.

A sideways grin spread across my face as my autonomic nervous system registers how close I just came to some form of fiery death. The manic rush, instead of acting like a deterrent, plays a powerful stimulant, and you do it again, and again, and again.

That's because the GT500KR is a much better car than its predecessor, the Mustang GT500. The GT500 is a mean and nasty car, operating at the limits of the chassis — it's twitchy, overpowered and hard to live with. Driving it always makes you feel like you're toeing the line of control, even when toting the groceries. To be perfectly honest, the notion of driving a GT500 with more horsepower was, at the outset, mildly terrifying. But the GT500KR is much more refined — the extra power is met with a much better suspension thanks to upgraded KR-only dampers, springs and shocks. All of it works together to provide a far more confident drive than the GT500. No more skipping across expansion joints at speed on a sweeping freeway corner, only planted, firm and predictable driving over the bumps and potholes of Michigan roads. But, then why the taken-to-the-limits feeling? It's because that added confidence is underscored with the notion that instead of being more controllable, the razors edge has just been raised to a new and more frightening level.

In spite of this knowledge, you smile like any man charming a Cobra; resigned to the danger, but addicted to the exhilaration of it. It doesn't matter if the car handles incredibly well for a solid axle design on a heavy car with monster mill, it doesn't matter if the interior has no upgrades over a standard 'Stang, it doesn't matter that the windows are tinted so dark you strain to see headlights in the night because none of that changes the mechanical the wail of obscenities the supercharger hurls at you as it takes over your world.

People point. They stare. The silent back and forth sweep of the red light draws the questions of curious passers-by. Camera phones are wielded, friends are called over and disbelief removed. But in the face of the crushing power of this car, the tight hold that childhood memories maintain over the aura of KITT shrink, and become insignificant as you pull runs — again, and again, and again. The show may be in need of some "Turbo Boost," but this GT500KR has all the boost we need.

Photo Credit: Alex C. Conley

See, the Lancer was Dodge's innovative compact car for '61, based on the new Valiant and priced at just $2,007 for the base 170 model. It's from Detroit's Golden Age, with relatively happy unions, high pay, and no threat from them damn Toyopets, so it will help convince the all-important hardhat vote that Obama is on their side when they hear that good ol' Slant Six go by. But, see, Obama would look too stolid driving the base 170, so that's why this car is the slightly pricier 770 coupe, which had enough chrome to look stylishly youthful without implying a sense of elitism. The Rat Fink sticker just adds to the efffect. Oh, just wait and see, folks!

Meanwhile, John McCain is going to be put on the defensive if he's seen cruising around in a new SUV or limo after the bombshell of the Obama Lancer is dropped, so we'll see him behind the wheel of a Falcon or Chevy II within a matter of hours. Yes, we're looking at an early-60s Detroit compact war for Campaign '08! You heard it here first!