NBC 4's news crew in Washington, DC, saw a driverless van on the streets. But it wasn't your everyday driverless vehicle. The van was being driven by a guy dressed as a car seat! We've seen this at Halloween, but this driver honestly did not want publicity. Reporter Adam Tuss approached the vehicle to interview the disguised driver. He got no cooperation.
Here's me trying to talk to a man in a car seat costume @nbcwashington pic.twitter.com/e5humOM7uS
— Adam Tuss (@AdamTuss) August 7, 2017
But the mystery was eventually solved.
After multiple inquiries by News4, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute said Monday afternoon that the van and van driver are part of a study they are conducting on driverless cars. The worker was wearing the uniform he was supposed to wear.
"The driver's seating area is configured to make the driver less visible within the vehicle, while still allowing him or her the ability to safely monitor and respond to surroundings," a statement from the institute says.
So what are they studying? The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute has some information on the experiment, and deep down in the bullet points, we think they may be studying the reactions of people to seeing a driverless vehicle. I wonder if the "reaction" of requesting an interview will be included in their data. -via Ars Technica