MIT’s AIDA – Digital Driving Assistant, Better than Kitt

Affective Intelligent Driving Agent

I am in your car, sensing all your stuff

Meet AIDA, the Affective Intelligent Driving Agent – a new personal robot to live in your car (probably an Audi as AIDA has very effective taste circuits). The project is a collaboration between the Personal Robots Group at the MIT Media Lab, MIT’s SENSEable City Lab and the Volkswagen Group of America’s Electronics Research Lab.

Embedded in the dashboard, this robot will not only be an in-car navigation aid but a sociable robot, getting to know the driver and pretty much be like your best mate helping you avoid traffic and watch out since you’re looking a bit tired. Hopefully AIDA won’t be like my mates who moan about my driving and leave rubbish everywhere, though.

AIDA will be fed tonnes of data from sensors all around the car – such as GPS, speed, car ahead proximity, tyre pressure, microphones and even galvanic skin response – then will convey them to you by offering time-saving routes, warnings that you look sleepy (or attempt to calm you down if you look like you’re stuck behind an idiot going 50mph in the fast lane yet again) and general companionship on long journeys. This will all happen through the high-resolution display showing a variety of facial expressions and warning signs whilst also being capable of speech synthesis.

Overall, I think this robot is brilliant and would love one in my car. And, unlike with Kitt, there are no requirements to have a dodgy perm and tight leather trousers to use it. Unfortunately, I figure that means buying a rather expensive car that may or may not exist yet. Maybe I could loan one to test this out.. fingers crossed!