Mercedes debuts F 015 autonomous concept car at CES

It does everything but laugh at your jokes...and it can be programmed to do that, too

    “Some believe the car has seen its best days,” mused Mercedes chief Dieter Zetsche in his keynote address on the eve of CES. “But I believe the best days are still ahead for the car. In the future, the car will grant access to the single most important luxury goods of the 21st century: private space and quality time.”

    And soon after uttering those words, a car that epitomizes those qualities drove itself onto the stage -- the “F 015 Luxury In Motion.” It arrives on the heels –- or, rather, the wheels -- of the S500 Intelligent Drive and Future Truck 2025, both also autonomous vehicles. The autonomous F 015 offers all the comforts of home and very few of the drawbacks of driving. It’ll be exactly what the world needs as more and more people crowd into cities, and existing roadways get slower and more crowded.

    “Most cool gadgets here at CES actually consume your time and take up space in your apartment,” Zetche said. “We at Mercedes are going to show you an innovation that actually gives you more time and more space. That really is priceless. That really is luxury.”

    Hence the suffix, “Luxury In Motion.” In addition to current autonomous functions like emergency braking, autonomous parking and driving in stop-and-go traffic, the F 015 uses better data processing and better sensors to not only drive the car for you but to entertain and inform passengers. It can even indicate to pedestrians when it is safe to cross in front of it, by means of a laser-sketched crosswalk. When it is steered by real human hands, it will be steered by gestures, eye-tracking and further interactive elements that surround the passengers. But it usually won’t be steered by humans.

    Ultra-high-res screens are on all inside door skins and function like computer and TV screens. The LED light modules front and rear tell drivers behind you when there is a pedestrian crossing in front; they even light up in recognition when they see you, the owner.

    Zetsche flashed a 1950s drawing of a happy family playing dominoes while their bubble car speeds onward, unattended by Dad, who is facing rearward.

   “I first saw this picture some decades ago,” said Zetsche. “It really feels great to work for a company that is crazy enough to finally bring this vision of driver-free mobility closer to reality.”