Why do Autonomous Cars Look Like Kitchen Appliances? 

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Horse drawn vehicles also had self driving abilities, some horses would follow the command "Go home" and be able to make there way back home if it was a common path.

"these lines are almost like a strained muscles of a predator..." wow, a great analysis as always!! It's great to hear about the other aspects of design...😃👌

As a keen long-time driver, your analysis here is especially fascinating. The shift from car as almost-avatar to utilitarian device, and the phone as a shape/object of safety and exploration are two new perspectives for me. Another great video!

As a postal worker, we were taught that the boxy shape and colors of the LLV postal truck instinctively makes drivers drive safer and cautiously without even knowing. The same goes for school busses. When I see these autonomous cars, I naturally feel like this is a slow, safe, occupational car. Just by the look of it, I know I should drive more cautiously as I approach it.

I'm convinced the future is with autonomous cars. Not because they're cool or anything. But because corporations have a vested interest in keeping the status quo rather than letting trains take over.

Definitely interesting,when you were explaining what came mind for me were the look of gaming PCs and the hobby of near constant upgrading of individual components. Bright flashy looks and in branding with a Xtreme sounding product names like the predator names for cars in the 60s and 70s

I completely relate to the car culture thing, I am 44 and have a French hothatch and a BMW coupé. However, for long journeys or a commute, I don't care and just want to get there in a comfortable manner. I actually can't wait for self driving cars so that i don't need to do the boring driving and can enjoy my sporty cars as a recreation. The comparison to a horse drawn carriage is interesting too because the advent of the motor car allowed horses to become a recreational animal or rideable pet instead of a beast of burden. Something similar will happen to the motorcar in the near future, I believe.

We in Soviet Russia had a design idea back in the 70s I think, which goes like this: pedestrians need to know if driver sees them and lets them cross. This is not always solved by the eye contact with the driver, because of things like weather and time of the day. The solution? Add green lamps on the face of the car, in parallel with the brake lights. That's it, that's all. The idea had no fruition back then, because there were almost no private car production in USSR and most of the cars tried to mimic the European and American cars. I also guess there were international regulations and standards about the car lights which couldn't be changed by such unproven idea. But the idea is still there nonetheless. Just use it. Yeah I know what you are thinking. What about humanization? We need to make a research! Guys, stop. You are overthinking it. A simple and reliable indication is always better than some cognitive stuff you are not even sure how it works. Do elevators need any humanization beyond what they currently have? These things are really scary, mind you. Just make a glass floor and see for yourself how scary it really is. I'm referring to time and efforts we are spending to something as trivial as a shape, when in reality we need to work on contents, like making the transportation safer by limiting or even eliminating user errors.

subtle comparison of lidar to carriage lamps was a nice. Would've loved to hear how Tesla's autonomous direction plays into this. Tesla feels like it is focused on both self expression and autonomy, bridging the immediate gap.

We should put screens on the sides of the AVs which can display stuff like "go ahead" for street crossings or "waiting for passengers" to let people know what the car is doing

the last part was like to the point the old chariot and new cars comparison...superb man 👍😁

the metaphor of "soldier and his car" & "yonger gen. and his digital touch point" is legit.

So basically autonomous cars are huge mobile phones.

You could also make a comparison of buses in general where they also shape like boxes, because it's meant for a utility and service to make people feel comfortable. Especially tour buses, AVs are just smaller buses without drivers.

Absolutely loved the development and insight this video gave me. As a car enthusiast, the future makes me sad. I know that the reasons I love cars are mostly not there anymore and in two or three generations, no one will remain to love cars as much as we do. I will probably not be around anymore to live that, so that's ok I guess 💔

3:23 basically a minibus or a super small train . It gets you from point A to point B, nothing more , nothing less

Love how they make a car with eyes instead of just making it blink it's high beams, at least in europe, this is normal practice for letting pedestrians cross and you can do that at a much larger and safer distance longer before you see the driver

lol, the main challenge to be addressed is getting an AV to actually go from A to B without crashing or getting stuck humans will accept them, when an Uber costs 20$, while an AV ride costs 2$

so happy i've found this vid! working on a sci-fi novel, and you gave me some great pointers on how to think about future vehicles

I think those "toaster cars" look like stagecoaches as well. Especially 6:46, with 2 benches mirroring each other.

Another excellent assessment of the vehicles/products that are going to have lasting social and cultural impact in the coming decades. Cars will always be a part of our movement and behavioral landscape. How we use them will be less and less important, rather the data we deliver while engaged in their use will be far more important. The pleasure of driving will become something of a personal choice, reduced very much like the pleasure of riding a horse, now only for specialized experts trained in secluded facilities. Also great that you captured the look of the new designs as carriages, because back then, ALL carriages were driven by trained drivers and the passengers were not involved at all with the horses or their control.

Thank you soo much for the video, extremely insightful.

did we just re-invent buses?

Oh your videos are awesome. So grateful, I found your channel.

The horse and carriage has evolved so much. The horses are now inside the carriage, and the cabin itself looks more like a coffee shop booth, minus the table.

this really insightful video about design and the psychology of people which is manifested in mostly all the products we use and it`s relevancy to culture and time :)

The horse draw carage comparison is especially apt if you ask me as they where, to an extent, a self driving vehicle where you have to trust something that could think for itself

What a superb vid John!

11:34 I was actually thinking this, even how the suspension moves looks very coach like.

"[...] they need to get humanized" Or we just admit it's a bad idea to build driving killing machines. Instead we could build a proper public transport, which can even get automated more easily.

Great insights, you are right soft aesthetics hides the complications, people will be afraid to ride an agressive looking AV car.

11:35 - Horse carriages with a coachman was the original SAE Level 5 vehicle.

That is a great breakdown! Cheers!

Lol I love that car throttle video, nice touch

Tell me you're a city dweller without telling me you've never left the city. So great content for the west and east cost sort of. As long as you completely ignore the entire #vanlife movement that gen z has fallen head over heels for, millennial finally had some time and money the last two years, so they bought every old 4x4 the could, modified them to their taste, and went to national parks and public space at rates an order of magnitude higher than ever before, RVs are selling faster than ever, new personalized SUVs like the bronco and new toyota large suv coming to replace the land cruiser, etc etc etc. Yes for you tiny bubble filled with many like minded urbanites, the toaster car is popular. It's just the everyone is leaving the cities after the last two years.

Good stuff as usual. I completely agree with your assessment of AV vehicles, their forms, and the user expectations associated with them. I also think the "Subscription" model for transportation is going to be big. It would be interesting to see if the effects of "Grand Tourismo" or other high adrenaline video game experience also translates into "Adrenaline" subscriptions. AV transport for the workweek, "Hyper adrenaline experience subscription" for the weekend? I recently switched to leasing for my current EV as it seems that much like my iPhone, the improvements every 2 to 3 years is significant. Thinking of leasing the Tesla Roadster 2.0 as well when it becomes available. (as part of my personal paradigm shift)

Really interesting, thank you.

Great channel, man!

All ways really Great vids

Do people who make them not know what a crumple zone is

Do you have any recommendations for resources (other than this channel) I can use to learn more about product design theory? This stuff is all fascinating to me and I'd really like to dive into it.

If they made it look more like an Old style coach or a limo, people might like these AV's more.

good for people who are old or need an alternative to public transport without being around many people or who dont want to get a drivers licence. like a personal driver. specially in pandemic. bad for people who look for personal engagement/input in their choice of products. but what happens when you going fast on autopilot and rain , dirt or mud blocks the cams sensors ?

It was fantastic to spend some time in your mind for 15 min, loved it. Since the primary reason you made it was ergonomics, have you considered making the guitar adjustable?

was thinking about the carriages just before you said it in the end, kinda freaked me out.

GREAT VIDEO!!

What of you use gpt4 in the car programming

I think your first point about their design needing to disarm people is an example of Raymond Loewy's MAYA principle. If you want to want to sell something revolutionary, make it look familiar.

Thanks for share your view points :)

I'll go out on a limb and say these things will do about as well in the market as the nissan cube did xD Because people *want* beauty in their lifes. even if they don't own it. In my country we have Mercedes e-class , VW touran, Toyota Prius, etc. as taxis ...guess which one i'm taking when i have the choice... (hint it's the beautiful luxury car for ~ the same price!)

the cruise organ looks like two Prius head butted eachother 😂

Great video. What's the name of the music track you used?

So interesting!!!

Great video!

very interesting. Also a question which came up is when somebody had an accident and you drive with a self driving car.. does it stop and tell you to help the one in the accident or will it just drive along?

Regarding the pop-culture roots of public fear of AVs, the cult 1983 movie 'Christine' should've been mentioned.

why can´t i have an autonomous bentley silvercloud hearse ??

I really like your videos, seen a couple now and imma subscribe. I'm not sure I agree about the shift toward focusing inward on AVs though. I think GM's Cruise is actually modelled after the trolleys, trains and carriages; which focuses on people's need to socialize (Which I think is desperately needed in design). I think the forward facing car was just a matter of necessity. I'm sure there will always be a market for forward facing AV's; just not for family cars.

You're right but, at the end of the day, my car is still me, it's still a reflection of my personality, and I, personally, don't want said reflection to look like a toaster or an overcomplicated brick

But I want an aggressive looking vehicle with autonomous mode :(

What is the use case for a vehicle like that

John I have a question, do you think is it possible for me to become a Industrial Designer / Design Engineer without going to school, like self taught or something? Thanks !

It would be interesting to see these in crash test.

Cool

The design also reminds me subway or train cars.

Sports car looks like a jaguar crouching behind a prey

I don't think the smartphone focus play that big of a role in design. Without the need of drivers, the passengers can focus on each other. That facing design and less visibility creates a social space. It is about making a comfortable experience. Depending on the places and target audience, they can make autocars with larger windows for sight seeing.

We went from room with wheels to big horse riding back to room with wheels lol.

I've been looking at them for a while now and i just cannot see the blender.

also looks like a train cabin (Hogwarts express yo) A fast car on the open road is all about exploring the unknown and a thrill of seeing new things. A nice train ride in a foreign country offers the same. The average commute through sprawling and poorly maintained areas doesn’t have much of view or anything new outside of the car. At best a commute is a nice time to unwind on the way back from the office. Chew on an idea or sort of relax alone-time wise (or with friends if you ride share). You couldn’t be washing dishes now if you tried. So having a cushy airport lounge feeling space for this time period is ideal. Once again a train could work here. Then there’s a trend for cities to become more dense and walkable. Like take your bike to the shop or office because everything is close and pleasant to walk to because city centres are becoming more car free or like less car centric. So then having a little friendly slow moving pod taxi is a great idea for when you and your crowd want to go out at night but its cold and no one really wants to cycle home drunk and fumble with locks and you maybe wanna wear heels. Or its a bigger shopping haul that’s tough to carry or someone struggles with mobility. Well having a bunch of these friendly - pedestrian priority - pods cruising around knowing that they’re not high speed or dangerous to anyone inside or out of the car - well that sounds ideal for cities! Especially if they’re electric and quiet except for maybe a very polite little toot-toot if necessary. The fast cars belong on the exciting roads away from suburbs and towns; the trucks belong on the farm/mine or industrial district; and cargo should travel by train because its the most efficient and economical. Young people care about the planet and good vibes (like city areas with art and cool public spaces for selfies/tiktok/yoga and some flexible work spaces and public transportation so that they can be citizens of the world because they have to rent anyway) So yeah i think there’s designs would do well and even more so if they have a few pods that are designed by artists. like omg i got collected in the mirrorball pod or cloud pod or dark academia pod or banksy pod or whatever. City centres that are all about bike lanes, walkable areas, town squares, pop up shops, green spaces, trains & trams, and then a few city utility vehicles or delivery vehicles (mostly limited to night time) and a handful of “uber” pods for occasional use. Get rid of ugly parking garages because the pods can just roam

They look like kitchen appliances because our new robot overlords want us nice and toasty.

Please do design theory on the New Shepard rocket

Another great video! I totally see the similarity between the AV interiors and the ones of horse-drawn carriages!

Robots and terrifying? I for one welcome our mechanical overlords. Jokes aside, I'd trust a computer any time over the jackass behind me flashing his headlight.

I was expecting to hear about AVs, but I heard about whole world!

Dystopian as fuck

i want a regular car that looks like that fisher price car

The psychological connection with a vehicle is a big thing. Not for most people though, but still. I mean, how can you not feel anything to a machine, when it gives you such a possibility to get to places, that you would not reach without it? I don't mean going to shops etc. I mean, getting out of town, just to get your mind off stuff. How could you not feel connection to a machine, when you maintain it? When you fix it. Now's gonna be a bit freaky part for most people, but still. How could you not feel connection, when there's your blood on parts of the machine? (I don't mean blood sacrifices, for god's sake, I mean, that sometimes when you fix your car, you get scratches, cuts, bruises, scorches.) It is a strong connection, like some king of brotherhood - machine gives you comfort, makes your life this much easier, and you take your part in such a relationship - you keep it alive, running, doing what it's supposed to do.

I would trust far more a robot driving than my grandpa tbh

It's like we have been made to forget that trams exist

I worked on the design development of the Local Motors Olli 1.0 and was head of the design development of Olli 2.0 or known as the 3d printed Olli. I tend to agree on your insights on this emerging segment, and I have additional insights to some aspects of the things you mentioned if you would be interested.

You can't make eye contact with a driver at night time. In that situation they usually flash their headlights quickly.

I love cruise bro

So my dreams of autonomous vw vans are valid :D

OMG, do any horse drawn carriage companies still exist? those might be good investment options.

7:05 is that Alex from Car Trottle?

We need Johnny Cab from Total Recall.

I'd honestly say that its square-ish because its supposted to haul 17.5 people and their luggage, but it truly has something to do with taking the individuality away, not like it affects me I'll buy an old Audi A4 and drive it 'till there's a hole through the engine

i miss old cars

Just stick an R2 unit sticking out of a car, they emote great \o/

I want toaster car. I also want to put googly eyes on it and call it Carbert.

I didn't see any "Kitchen Appliances" in the video though!!

The only thing I’m worried about is what happens when a car t-bones these things.

A jeep wrangler is more aerodynamic than a Waymo taxi

To answer your question, you got it backwards and it involves time travel. That’s all I can say without causing the universe to explode.

oh yeah you're right should maybe in the future also do rent a autonomous Victorian carriages for Weddings and quinceaneras or any party that has the theme like that.

I would get motion sick if i could not see out of the window. I like the front window.

That avatar thought was new to me. Was it really more important to look rich than to be rich?

Looks like the fusion of a tram and a horse carriage.