VW and MIT Introduce In-Car Robot

Volkswagen has partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to introduce AIDA, the Affective Intelligent Driving Agent.

AIDA is a robotic device mounted onto the dashboard that uses a number of different information sources to help you plan travel routes, skip traffic jams, discover entertainment locations you’ve never previously heard of and even help you avoid running out of gas. It also happens to look like something out of a sci-fi movie.

AIDA is more than just a GPS on steroids, though. It also “learns” how you drive by monitoring features and systems like the gas pedal, brake pedal, windshield wipers, seat position, fuel gauge and tire pressure. It knows the city you live in, your home and work locations, and it learns your driving priorities.

For instance, you could be trying to make a 7 p.m. movie but a traffic jam threatens your on-time arrival. AIDA would then step in and direct you around the traffic using the quickest possible route. On the way home, it might recommend that you stop for gas based on how far away you live. Or it might suggest a restaurant to grab a bite at because it knows you’ve been in a movie for two hours and might be hungry.

AIDA sounds a little too much like HAL of “2001: A Space Odyssey,” but as long as AIDA doesn’t refuse to “open the pod bay door,” so to speak, this system could be very cool.

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