This Cognitive Autonomous Vehicle Is Powered By You And IBM Watson

As reported by Forbes: Self driving, cognitive and powered by IBM Watson, a new self-driving vehicle called Olli, is expected to hit public roads later this year in Washington DC and Miami Dade County.

Local Motors, the company that created the first 3D printed car, developed Olli (more like a very short bus) to carry up to 12 people and fill transportation gaps in a city’s transit system or transport employees across corporate campuses more efficiently. Olli is fueled by your collective brains and allows for natural interaction with the vehicle using IBM Watson’s IoT cognitive computing capabilities.

Olli has more than 30 sensors which are embedded in the vehicle that collect transportation data as the vehicle is in motion. Using cognitive computing, Olli can analyze and learn from that collected data. New sensors can be continuously added and adjusted as passenger needs and local preferences are identified. Olli’s knowledge grows based on the interaction with its passengers.

Here’s how Olli works via Watson. A passenger can ask a question or specific vehicle functions on entering the vehicle. By example, “Olli can you take me to the Lincoln Memorial” or “how does this feature work?”. Passengers will also be able to ask for recommendations on local destinations or historical sites based on analysis of personal preferences. Olli learns as it moves and as each passenger asks for destinations it stores and remembers that for the next person.  

Local Motors hopes that Olli can help reduce individual driving at the same time increase the efficiency of rides-on-demand which can help reduce the carbon footprint of cities and corporate or academic campuses.